The Game of Olympia
by Aix98
Summary: (A/U) The Augmented Reality game, known as Olympia, has taken the world by storm and changed the lifestyle of the current society. Percy Jackson hasn't been one for games and is the only one that hasn't played it yet. But when he was challenged into a match in Olympia, things in his life will take a turn. Especially after finding out that there's more to Olympia than meets the eye.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

As the alarm clock rang at his bedside table, Percy woke up in a daze as he turned the alarm clock off. He rubbed his eyes and yawn, waiting for his vision to clear up.

Sunlight was shining through the curtains, brightening up the room. Well, technically his room was also the living room, and it was also the kitchen. Since he was living alone, this standard apartment was the only place he could afford without living like a crackhead.

He got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower, contemplating on whether this day was going to be the same as the previous ones.

Oh how wrong he was.

Percy got dressed and made his way out of his apartment. On his way down, he heard the landlord, Mr. Funk (don't ask), being in the middle of an argument with one of the tenants who was a few weeks late on her rent. Percy was late on the rent also, so he made haste on his way out.

Before going to class, he made a stop at one of his favourite places in the world. As he entered the building, he was greeted with a tackle as Thalia hugged him tightly.

"Percy!" She giggled like the little girl she is.

"Ow! Ow! My ribs!" Percy struggled but he also stifled out a few laughs. "How are you this morning, Thalia?" Percy said as he ruffled her hair.

Thalia frowned. "I'm fifteen. You don't need to treat me like a little girl."

"Well, technically I can since I'm three years older than you," Percy grinned. "Anyway, where's Hestia?"

"She's in the kitchen," Thalia said as she poked at Percy's ribs. He let out a small yelp.

"What was that for?" He asked. Thalia just shrugged as she walked away. Percy let out a small smile before going at the back of the building.

This place is an orphanage that was ran by a very sweet and kind woman named Hestia. She's the only adult here who takes care of the twenty or so kids that are living here as well. Percy had stumbled across this place a few months ago when he was let in during a heavy storm. Since then, he would visit here every day before he went to class. Partly because Thalia asked him to and partly because Hestia's cooking tastes so good.

He found Hestia in the kitchen, where the scent of the food filled up the room. Percy felt his head melt as he sniffed at her meal.

Hestia is pretty much everything that you could ask for in a mother. She had dark red hair which she tied into a braid and eyes that just engulfs you in warmth. No one really knows her age, but she looks like she's in her mid-thirties. When she saw Percy, Hestia gave him a sweet smile.

"Good morning, Percy,"

"Morning," Percy replied with a goofy smile. He took a whiff of the scent. "Smells good. What's the menu for today?"

Hestia winked at Percy. "If I tell you, it won't be a secret." She said. "I love seeing people's reaction to my food."

"Let me guess," Percy put a thoughtful look on his face as he stroked his chin. "Chicken soup,"

Hestia let out a small laugh. "Nice guess, but no." She reached out towards the counter behind her and handed Percy a brown paper bag. "Here's your lunch for the day,"

Percy pouted. "No breakfast?"

Hestia wagged her finger. "You got it wrong, so no breakfast for you," Hestia said. "Besides, you always get breakfast from Grover,"

Percy shrugged. She did have a point. "I'll be going now. See you in the evening." Percy said as he walked away. "And thanks for the lunch!"

On his way out, Percy saw Thalia wearing a pair of glasses and was in a "fight" with her younger brother, Jason. When Thalia tackled him to the ground, she smirked. "I win,"

"You cheated!" Jason argued. Aside from their electric blue eyes, Percy saw no resemblance between them even though they were only one year apart. "Your level is higher than mine!"

"That's not cheating!" Thalia said with a smug look on her face. "I'm just better than you," Then, she saw Percy about to leave. "You're leaving already?"

Percy nodded. "I'll be back after class,"

"At least play a game of Olympia with me first," Thalia whined.

Percy just chuckled. "You know I don't play that game,"

"Well, you should," Jason added. "Or people will think that you're an old man."

Percy just shook his head as he opened the door. "Nah, I'm not into it. See you after class."

"Bye Percy!" Thalia and Jason said at the same time before resuming their argument about Olympia.

Olympia . . .

The game took the world by storm. Just a few months after its launch, almost everyone in the entire world was playing it. It had made the front page of every magazine and news outlet, talking about what a success the game was and how it had changed people's lifestyle.

Olympia was an Augmented Reality game, or AR for short. Unlike Virtual Reality games where you are present in the game, an AR game brings the game into the real world. Through the AR Glasses, it can generate the game into the real world from the person's point of view.

So, imagine you're walking down the street of your neighbourhood while wearing these Glasses. If the game generates a dragon through those glasses, then you would see the dragon in your neighbourhood, but it's just through the glasses. Take them off, and you will find that nothing has changed.

After Olympia had been released, people started playing it twenty-four/seven. Tournaments were being held and sponsorships were made. Professional Olympia players are treated like celebrities now. The better you are at the game, the fancier your lifestyle is.

Percy, for one, has never played it. It's not because he can't afford it – which he can't – but it's because it doesn't seem to interest him. He doesn't really play games. Some of his friends had tried to convince him to play Olympia, but he refuses.

As Percy exited the building, he could see everyone walking around wearing AR Glasses. These AR Glasses had also made a change into how society works. If you're wearing those Glasses, you can see people's name hovering above their heads, you can see a shop projecting how many people are in it and so much more. Basically, the AR Glasses had become what smartphones used to be, only better.

He shouldered his backpack before going to his class. He could see some people are playing the game, engaging in a battle with each other. Some of them are just talking through the Glasses, maybe on a call with someone. The AR Glasses had really defined on how society now live their lives.

It took around ten minutes before he reached Crimson College, where the students are almost as dumb as the name sounds. The place had a reputation for being one of the best college in the country academically. Of course they're all smart people, but that doesn't mean they're socially tolerable.

Percy had been lucky enough to pass the entrance exam to this place. It's where everyone who hopes to be someone big in the future go to. Most people here are stuck up brats with money in their pockets, something Percy lacked. But he didn't let that get in his way. He got here with his own wits.

By the time Percy reached Crimson College, students were already streaming in. Just like everyone else, they were all wearing AR Glasses. Percy was the only one who wasn't wearing one, nor did he feel like wearing one.

He sighed as he went inside and towards his locker. He opened it up and stuffed his bag in as he took some of his books out. When he closed the locker door, he found Grover staring at him with a grin.

"Hey," He greeted Percy out of nowhere, which made him jump.

"Dude, how are you doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"You're always sneaking up on me,"

Grover rolled his eyes. "I'm not sneaking up on you. You're just the one spacing out all the time,"

Grover was one of the only friends Percy had in Crimson College. He always wore the same rhasta cap over his curly hair. The way his goatee grew would make you think that he looks older than he actually is.

"Anyway," Grover said as they were on their way to class. "Have you heard?"

"Heard what?" Percy asked.

"There's going to be a fight today," He said as he straighten up his AR Glasses. "Everyone's hyped over it,"

"Whoopee," Percy said with a fake excitement in his tone. "And this concerns me because?"

Grover looked at Percy in disbelief. "Dude, it's going to be one of the biggest fights of the season! Luke Castellan is going against Nico di Angelo for a spot in the rookie showcase."

Luke Castellan, one of the dickheads that Percy tries to avoid. He's one of those guys who peaked at college and thinks that everyone is below him and everything should be going their way.

"Again, how does this concerns me?" Percy asked. They walked into class and took their seats next to each other. Grover rolled his eyes as he heard Percy's question.

"Percy, you're the only one in this world who doesn't care about Olympia," Grover stated out. "You've gotta start playing it or people are going to think that you're a freak,"

Percy sighed. "I've told you Grover. I'm not interested."

He just shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Then, the bell rang and the day started.

 **Line Break**

Why did Percy think taking Psychology 101 was fun, he had no idea.

By the time the first class was done, Percy was on his way to the cafeteria when he spotted Grover being surrounded by Luke Castellan and his goons. Grover looked terrified while Luke had a nasty grin on his face.

Not wanting to see his best friend get hurt, he rushed towards them and stepped in between them.

"Look who comes to the rescue," Luke said mockingly. "Step aside kid. This is none of your business."

"He's my friend, so it _is_ my business," Percy glared into his eyes. Luke was slightly older and taller than him, so it's hard to look intimidating in front of him. Especially since he got a scar running through the bottom of his right eye all the way to the chin, as if someone had scratched it with a dagger.

Luke let out a sigh. "Listen, I would like to beat the shit out of both of you, but I don't have the time for that since I'm fighting soon." Luke cracked his knuckles. "So let's not make this hard, shall we?"

Percy stood his ground. He could hear Grover whimpering behind him. Luke balled his fists and went for the punch. To Percy's surprise, he reacted faster than he thought he could and pushed the jab away from his face.

Luke looked surprised, but he covered it up quickly. "You're fast kid," Luke said. "Tell you what. After school, meet me at the Arena before my fight. You'll be my warm up act before I beat the shit out of Nico."

Again, Percy said nothing. Luke sneered at him before walking away, taking his goons with him.

Grover grabbed Percy's shoulders and shook him. "Dude! Do you realize what you're involved in?"

"What?" Percy gritted his teeth, still miffed about his encounter with Luke.

"In Olympia's competitive scene, Luke is one of the top rookies of the season. He'll be the number one draft from all the rookies in the world. You can't beat him!" Grover stated out. "You don't even play the damn thing!"

"He's all talk," Percy spat out. "I hate guys like him,"

Grover sighed. "Well, you have a fight now." Grover said. He fished out something from his back pocket and handed it to Percy. It was an AR Glass.

"What's this?" Percy asked. Grover rolled his eyes.

"It's a coffee maker. It's an AR Glass, man!" He said. "Think of it as a 'thank you' gift for saving my behind back there. Plus, you don't have one and you're going to need one to face off against Luke."

Percy nodded. "Thanks Grover,"

"Don't mention it." Grover said. "Now, any idea on what class you're going to pick?"

Percy stared at him blankly.

"Any type of builds that you prefer during a fight?"

Percy continued to stare at him.

"Do you even perhaps know even a little bit about Olympia?"

Percy just stared at him.

Grover sighed. "We have a lot of work to do."

 **Line Break**

Percy and Grover sat down inside an empty classroom when everyone had went to the cafeteria. Grover was standing in front of him as Percy sat down, listening to Grover's explanation.

"In Olympia, there are a few ways to play the game. It's either a player versus player mode – PvP for short – or player versus enemy mode, PvE."

"What's the difference?" Percy asked.

"PvP is a match between you and another player. This is what you'll be dealing with soon. PvE is a match between you and an enemy from the game." Grover explained. "Now in PvP, you can do this three different ways. Solo,– which is what you'll be doing – three against three, or five against five."

Percy nodded. "So I'm gonna be in a one-on-one situation with him?"

"Now you're getting it." Grover said. "In Olympia, there're are different classes which will determine your set of abilities and stats. There are four categories of classes. There are the Tanks; whose sole job is to soak up tons of damage dealt to them, protecting their team. They don't dish out real damage, but they can take a hit."

"Doesn't sound fun,"

"It doesn't, but they're one of the most important classes in a party."

"In a what?"

"Not important. The next category of class is Magic. As the name say, these are classes that can cast spells and do massive amount of damage towards the enemy. The catch is, they're fragile as hell. They function like a glass cannon. They can blast the enemy, but they're very vulnerable."

"It's like a high risk/high reward kind of class," Percy muttered.

Grover see-sawed his hand. "More or less. Next up is the Physical class. Much like Magic classes, these types of classes do damage physically."

Percy gestured for him to go on.

"And finally, we have the Support classes. Probably the least popular type of classes there is but also the most important one of all in a team." Grover said. "Support classes focus on helping their allies gain advantage while giving disadvantage to the enemy. They don't really deal damage and are pretty useless if in a solo situation, which is why they're not very popular."

"Is that all?"

Grover shook his head. "There's more to it than that, but since you're going to have a fight in a few hours, that's all I can give you in this crash course about Olympia."

"Well, I'd better pick a class then." Percy stretched his back.

"Which class are you picking?" Grover asked.

"Let's see . . ."

 **Line Break**

The study sessions after that went past in a blur. Percy had been thinking about the fight so much that he couldn't focus on studying. Even though he didn't really want to play Olympia, he was kind of excited.

Maybe he'd been wrong about the game all along.

The bell rang, signalling the end of school session. Normally, everyone would be eager to go home. But today, everyone was going to the school Arena for the fight between Luke Castellan and Nico di Angelo, the two top rookies in the world.

And Percy, who was Luke's warm up fight.

Percy and Grover made their way to the Arena. The Arena wasn't really that big. It looked like a warehouse from the outside, with a large double door and banners on either side emblazoned with the Crimson College logo.

Percy could hear the crowd before he could even see it.

The cheering of the crowd was wild and loud. Maybe this game is bigger than Percy had realized it to be. He looked at Grover to see him fidgeting with his thumbs, like he always does when he's nervous.

"Dude, relax," Percy said. "You look more nervous than me."

Grover looked at him sadly. "I'm just worried about you, Percy. Luke doesn't really fight fair and –"

"Come on now," Luke came out of nowhere and slung his arm over Grover's shoulders. "Is that any way to talk about your best friend?"

Grover looked terrified while Percy just glared at Luke. Luke looked at Percy and winked. "Be careful out there,"

"You should tell yourself that," Percy said.

Luke winced. "That's some big boy talk." He smirked evilly. "Let's see if you can back that up, shall we?" Luke walked into the centre of the Arena and the crowd went wild. Bleachers surrounded the middle of the Arena, which was twice as wide as a wrestling circle.

Luke told the crowd to quiet down. The amount of influence he had on the crowd was surprising. "Now, now, I know you're excited to see my little match with Nico," The crowd cheered again. "But before we get into that, I want to have a bit more fun."

Percy noticed a boy, maybe about Thalia's age, leaning against the tunnel wall that led to the Arena. He had a pale complexion, as if he was half a ghost. His hair looked like he'd just gotten out of bed and eyes that were cold as ice. Through the AR Glasses, above him projected his name

Nico di Angelo.

He's the guy that Luke was supposed to fight? Percy find that hard to believe. Luke was bigger, taller, and probably more of a dick. He didn't know if that last one was much help.

"Good luck," Nico said to him.

"Excuse me?"

"You're gonna fight him first, aren't you?" Nico said as he yawned. "Good luck,"

"Um, thanks," Percy managed.

"Give it up for Percy!"

He was greeted with a wave of boos and jeering. Clearly he wasn't the crowd favourite. Grover winced at the crowd's reaction to his name announcement.

"Go get 'em Perce," Grover said but it didn't sound very convincing.

"Thanks man," Percy took a deep breath before walking out of the tunnel and into the Arena. As soon as they saw him, the booing and jeering got louder.

"You suck!"

"You're no match for Luke!"

"What an asshat!"

Percy just shrugged the insults off as he faced against Luke. Percy was on one side of the circle while Luke was on the opposite side. The referee stood in the middle of the circle, explaining the rules to them.

"I want a clean and fair fight," He said. "You win if your opponent is thrown out of the circle, unable to continue, or if he yields."

Percy nodded. Luke nodded as well with a grin on his face. He put on his AR Glasses and his whole outfit changed. Instead of the buttoned white shirt and denim jeans he was wearing, he was now wearing a different outfit. He wore a bronze breastplate with vambraces that are studded with spikes. From the waist down, he wore what looked like a mix between metal greaves and a biker's leather pants. In his hand, he had a scythe that looked like metal and bronze mixed together.

The crowd cheered as Luke was ready for battle. Percy guessed this was what they saw through the AR Glasses. Percy put on his Glasses and put his combat attire on. He wore a black coat with a white shirt underneath along with black pants and combat boots. Strapped on his back was two swords in a cross. Both swords were designed like a katana, only it didn't have the curve. It was straight single edged sword without a hand guard and hilt wrapped red cloth.

"A Duelist, huh?" Luke smirked. "This should be a piece of cake."

"Ready?" The referee gestured at Luke. Luke held his scythe over his shoulder. "Ready?" The referee turned towards Percy. Percy just nodded. "Fight!"

What happened in those split second were beyond normal human sight. What was left of the fight was Luke's scythe skittering away from him while Percy had both blades pressed against his neck.

It lasted for just a fraction of a second. Everyone in the arena was stunned in disbelief. Luke looked just as surprised as everyone else.

He struggled to swallow the lump in his throat. "I . . . I yield," Luke said, admitting defeat.

The referee, who was also speechless, remembered to do his job. "And the winner by way of surrender, Percy Jackson!"

No one cheered. Everyone was too surprised at what just happened. Luke, who was the number one rookie in the world, had been defeated in mere seconds.

It wasn't even seconds. It was _milli_ seconds.

"I guess I won, right?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Nice to see to positive response I'm getting from this! And as you can tell, yes it does have that SAO and Ready Player One vibe to it with a sprinkle of Log Horizon (it's a good anime, btw. I totally recommend watching it).**

 **Chapter 2**

After the fight with Luke, Percy hurriedly left the Arena with more than a few pairs of eyes staring at him. He was on his way towards the Orphanage when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He turned around to see Nico alongside someone who Percy has never seen before. The guy was tanned and buff, built like a linebacker. He had a permanent scowl on his face that made Percy uncertain whether he really needed to go to the bathroom or he wanted to punch Percy in the face.

"Nice show back there," Nico grinned. "I haven't seen a fight that was over in a second,"

The buff guy nodded in approval. He was smiling, but it looked more like an evil grin. "I wouldn't get ahead of myself, if I were you. Luke was just in his sparring gear. That wasn't him at his best,"

Nico nudged the buff guy. "Give him a little credit. Luke's like the second best rookie in the world right now." Nico said. "With me being number one, of course,"

Percy made a 'time-out' gesture. "Wait, who are you guys?"

The buff guy whistled. "They weren't kidding when they say you haven't played Olympia."

Nico shrugged. "Could've fooled me." He held his hand out. "I'm Nico di Angelo," Percy shook his hand. "And this is Charles Beckendorf."

The buff guy held his hand out. "Or just call me Beckendorf."

Percy shook his hand. "Um, I'm Percy." He looked at Nico. "Aren't you meant to be fighting Luke right now?"

"Well, I was supposed to until . . ." He gestured at Percy. "You gave him an ass-whooping so severe that he cancelled the match between us."

Percy didn't know what to say. It was his first time playing Olympia and he'd just beaten one of the top prospects in the game's industry.

"Well, we need to get going," Beckendorf said. "Nico and I have some _professional_ talk to do," He put the emphasis on the word 'professional', as if he's trying to tell Percy something.

Nico grinned at him. "Well, see you around, Percy," Nico said with a wink before they went off on their way. Percy tried to put his thoughts together as he entered the Orphanage.

Again, for the second time that day, he was greeted by Thalia who appeared out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground. Percy groaned while Thalia was sitting on his stomach with a wide grin was evident on Thalia's face.

"Percy!" Thalia exclaimed. "You're famous!"

"What?"

Thalia put her AR Glasses on and stared in front of her. "Look at your news feed! It says you've defeated Luke Castellan in just a few seconds!" She grabbed his shoulders and started shaking them. "Do you know who Luke Castellan is?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Percy groaned. "Now get up, will you?"

Thalia reluctantly get off of Percy as he stood up. He took out his AR Glasses and wore them. Thalia had a confused look on her face. "Since when did you get yourself a pair of those?"

"A friend gave them to me," Percy explained.

"I thought you had no intention of playing this game," Thalia wiggled her eyebrows. "I guess the temptation was just too much, huh?"

"It's not like I wanted to," Percy rolled his eyes. He put on his Glasses as the UI turned on in front of him. At the upper left corner of the Glasses displayed his name and underneath it displayed a green bar that represents his Health Points (HP) and a blue bar underneath that which represents Mana Points (MP). Next to his name was a series of numbers. Indicating his rank. Right now, he was above the ten thousand digit.

"Well, I'm glad you're playing it now," Thalia smiled. "Now I have someone else to spar with other than Jason,"

"What about the other kids?"

Thalia shrugged. "They're scared of me. I am the highest ranking player in this place." She said it with a bit of a smug look on her face.

"Can't wait to beat you then," Percy grinned. They moved to the living room to sit down for a bit. At the bottom right corner of the Glasses, he could see a bunch of symbols. One for e-mail, the other one for a phone call, one for the Internet, and one that looked like the outline of a person, which had three notifications.

 _Friend requests_ , Percy mentally thought. He didn't know how to access it so he turned towards Thalia. "How do you even check friend requests?"

Thalia managed a laugh. "Seriously?" She sat up straight. "Just point at where the symbol is on your UI display."

Percy nodded. He pointed at the bottom right corner of his vision and the symbol expanded into a box with three friend requests. One of them was from Grover, so he accepted with no hesitation. The other was from Nico. How the hell he managed to send Percy a friend request, he had no idea.

The other one was from someone that Percy had no idea who it was. At first Percy thought it was Beckendorf, but the profile picture was of a girl with chocolate brown hair that was cut choppy and uneven. The name read 'Piper'. Percy didn't know who she was, but he accepted it anyway.

Then, another friend request popped up. It was from Thalia. Percy looked at her just to see her smiling. Percy smiled back as he accepted immediately.

Then another notification popped up:

* * *

 _Thalia has invited you to a duel. Do you accept?_

 _Yes No_

* * *

Percy laughed. "Not now, Thalia. I'm tired."

Thalia pouted. "Aw. Please? Just a short round."

"Maybe next time," Percy said as he faked yawning. "I'm really tired."

"Fine," Thalia sulked. "But I'm gonna fight you one day,"

"And I can't wait to beat you,"

 **Line Break**

After dinner time at the Orphanage, Percy was already on his way home. The Internet icon on his Glasses allowed him to access the Internet (duh!). The news about him defeating Luke went viral and was all over the place. One news article read that several professional teams are already trying to find him and recruit him into their team, which Percy had no intention in being part of.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Percy's UI display popped up with a notification.

* * *

 _Piper has invited you to a duel. Do you accept?_

 _Yes No_

* * *

Percy looked around to see if he could find this 'Piper'. Turns out she was behind him all this time, following him silently. Percy stared at her, to see if she would respond. The Glasses projected her name above her head, just to confirm it was really her. He hadn't chosen whether he would fight her or not.

"So?" The girl, 'Piper', said. "Are you going to accept?"

"Who even are you?" Percy asked. Under the moonlight, Piper looked like a daughter of the goddess of beauty, if there is one. She was probably the same age as Percy, maybe a bit younger.

Piper rolled her eyes. "You really know nothing about Olympia, do you?"

"I get that a lot."

"Just accept the invitation." Piper said.

Percy looked at her before focusing back on the invitation to duel on his screen. He declined.

"I'm tired for the day." He said. "Maybe some other time," He waved her off as he turned around. He could hear Piper grumbling in annoyance, but he didn't care.

He heard footsteps behind him to see Piper was following him. "Do you know what you're getting yourself involved in?"

"I don't know," Percy grumbled. "And frankly, I don't care. All I did was just win one stupid duel."

"Well that stupid duel was with one of the top talents of the year," Piper rolled her eyes. "And aside from me, other people from other teams are gonna go after you as well. Not all of them are gonna be as nice as me and Nico."

Percy raised an eyebrow. They crossed a road before Percy replied. "You know Nico?"

"I'm from the team that's going to recruit him during the rookie showcase," Piper said. "Piper McLean," She held out her hand.

Reluctantly, Percy shook it. "Percy Jackson." Then, another notification popped up on his display. It was another invitation to a duel from Piper. Percy sighed before he declined again. "Look, I already told you. I'm tired."

Piper looked disappointed. "I really was hoping to test your skills to see if you're not a fluke," Then, she straightened herself. "Well, the rookie showcase is a week from now. I suggest you get ready and get yourself some nice equipments to help you out. They're not going to be wearing basic armour like Luke did."

"I'm not in the rookie showcase," Percy argued.

Piper shrugged. "Check again, rookie." She said before turning around. "I'll see you soon." And just like that, she ran off. By the time they'd finished talking, Percy was already outside of his apartment building. He made his way quietly upstairs, careful on not waking the landlord before entering his room.

He had finally reached his apartment, where he was not going to be disturbed. He breathed out a sigh of relief. He went to the fridge to get a drink and got a surprise when his AR Glasses started ringing. The AR Glasses had a frame that was comfortable and the curved ends of it fits onto your ear perfectly with the curves extends all the way to your ear, acting like headphones. On its side was a button to answer calls.

He answered the call.

"Hello?" Percy called out.

No answer.

"Hellooo?" Percy called out again. And again, no answer. Percy rolled his eyes and turned the call off. Maybe it was Thalia playing a prank on him, but he didn't see Thalia's name in the caller's ID. And the only ones who could call you were the ones in your friend list.

He grabbed a drink and sat down on the couch. He figured if he was going to get involved about the game, he might as well learn about it.

He looked through the community websites of Olympia. He scrolled through the forums looking for guides, walkthroughs, and basically every information there is to the game.

Apparently, aside from the PvP aspect of the game, there was a whole other side of PvE. The PvE consisted on players going against monsters that the game might generate in random places in the world. Since Olympia was popular worldwide, that's going to be everywhere.

There are three types of PvE events. There's Solo, where you take on monsters on your own. There are Squads, where you go on a five-man party with other players to take on the more difficult monsters. Then there's Raids.

Raids interests Percy the most. It's an event where you take on the most powerful monsters in all of Olympia, or technically known as World Bosses. The goal of the event is to defeat the World Boss for rare loots and item drops from the monsters that are unavailable from anywhere else.

A Raid typically consists of four five-man party, which makes it twenty players in a single raid. And even then, the World Bosses are not that easy to kill. The most famous Raid team was a team called the Roman Legion, led by a player named Reyna. Apparently, they were also one of the strongest teams in the Olympia competitive scene currently.

Percy looked up Piper's name, since she was in a team that was going for Nico.

Piper was in a team called the Rebellion. As he scrolled through the team roster, he noticed that Beckendorf was also in it. So that means that's twice that this team has tried to recruit Percy.

Percy scrolled through the news feed to see articles about Nico getting recruited into the team and that the Rebellion was going to be one of the top contenders of the season. Luckily, there was no news about Percy.

He went through some matches in the pro scene of Olympia, just to see how the game was played professionally. He found himself watching the game intently, putting himself in some of the player's spot just to see what he could've done better that the other player didn't.

One player attracted his attention. Annabeth Chase. She'd been the youngest rookie to have entered the pro scene of Olympia. Thanks to her brilliant mind and her fast decision making, she'd been one of the top players in the game. The community had nicknamed her 'The Tactician', due to her understanding of the game and the ability to adapt to almost any situation.

Ever since she'd entered the pro scene, Annabeth has not lost a single match. Be it Solo, a three versus three, or a five versus five, she has not dropped a single match. Her intelligence had seen her be the captain of the team, Minerva. She's also the youngest player to have ever held the captain role in any team.

From what Percy observed, she has two classes that she used frequently. If it's a team match, then she uses Enchanter. It's a class where it focuses on buffing allies and weakening the enemy. It has a skill set that cripples the enemies with status effects and utilize her team's offensive abilities.

The other class she would use are during Solo matches, where she uses her Assassin class. This class has the highest physical damage output out of all the classes. They use stealth and evasion as a way of defence while their offensive capabilities are through the roof.

Percy watched all the videos on her fights. In teamfights, she was a leader. She gave out commands and her team followed without hesitation. Every decision she made had been calculated from the beginning to predict all the possible outcomes and scenarios. Every move the enemy team made was useless as it was all predicted by her. Any attempt to do random things that she would not expect are futile.

In Solo matches however, Annabeth's combat skills are on a next level. As an Assassin, she would easily dodge enemy attacks and then disappear from sight as if she was a ghost, only to appear again behind the enemy with her weapon at their throats.

As he was studying more videos of Olympia matches, a notification buzzed at the bottom corner of his screen. He'd received an email from someone.

When he opened it, he was surprised that Nico had found out his email address. He'd sent an email to Percy with a link attached to it.

* * *

 _To: Percy_

 _From: Nico_

 _You should take a look at this. Might want to consider a career change._

* * *

Below the message was a link that led towards a news site, Olympia News. One of the more prominent and trustworthy media outlet out there.

The headline read:

* * *

 _Percy Jackson Is Nominated As The Rookie Showcase's Wildcard Contestant!_

 _While the name of Percy Jackson is unknown to many people, this young player had done what the community never saw coming. In a short sparring match at Crimson College with top rookie of the season, Luke Castellan, this young kid has wiped the floor with Luke, beating him in mere seconds._

 _With the Rookie Showcase coming in just a few days, the community has voted to see more of this unknown prodigy in action. The Wildcard spot in the showcase is for players who are not directly invited to the showcase, but are picked by the community as the player with just as much as potential as the other rookies._

 _So far, we have not been able to get in contact with Percy Jackson, but the word is that several teams have already been keeping tabs on him. While our interview with Luke had recorded him saying that he "did it on purpose", the clip of the fight suggests otherwise._

 _Will this Percy Jackson be the next breakout star of Olympia? Well, we'll find out soon enough at the Rookie Showcase._

* * *

Percy groaned internally. This was exactly the opposite of what he wants. How has word travelled so fast in only a few hours? He guessed that the advanced technology of AR Glasses might've helped, but he didn't really put his mind into it.

Only after a few minutes Percy realized how long he has been staying up. It was five in the morning. Only two hours left before he has to go to school again.

Percy groaned out loud. He was thinking about calling in sick today. Usually, the teachers wouldn't mind. But since he'd made it to national headlines, this was not going to be overlooked.

So he closed his eyes to get every moment of sleep he could get.

 **Line Break**

Percy woke up to his AR Glasses ringing. He sat up drowsily as he looked at the Caller's ID.

Grover.

Reluctantly, Percy answered the call. He wanted to say 'Hey, what's up man?' but it came out like, "Unh?"

"Percy! Where are you man?" Grover asked frantically. In the background, Percy could hear some sort of commotion.

"I've just woke up. What's wrong?" Percy yawned.

"Dude! Everyone's looking for you!" Grover said. The chaos Percy heard in the background got wilder. It sounded like people cheering. At one point, Percy could hear a girl screaming 'Marry me!'.

"Where are you?" Percy asked. He was way too dazed to be hearing loud noises. "Who's looking for me? And why does it sound like a concert there?"

"I'm at Crimson College," Grover answered. "Some of the pro players are here and they're looking for you. You've gotta come down here man!"

Percy sighed. "Fine. I'll be there in ten minutes."

"In five," Grover argued. "And hurry!" He said before ending the call.

To be honest, the whole situation had just made him not wanting to go to school more. He was still sleepy after watching videos of Olympia fights and all that.

But he figured Grover might get into trouble again, so he got ready for school.

On his way down the apartment, he came across his landlord, Mr. Funk. Percy cursed mentally as he remembered about his delayed rent.

"Oh, Mr Funk." Percy said. "I'm sorry for paying late. I'll pay you by the end of the week, I promise."

Mr. Funk frowned. "What are you talking about? You've already paid your rent enough to cover your for the next year."

Percy stared at him in confusion. He pinched his forearm to make sure he wasn't dreaming. And he wasn't.

"Oh, and someone's here to see you," Mr. Funk said before going to his room. Percy looked at the door to see a girl leaning on the door frame. Her athletic figure made Percy assume that she was a marathon runner. Upon closer inspection, the girl was wearing an orange t-shirt with short denims. Her blonde hair was let loose down her shoulder. She regarded Percy with her stormy grey eyes.

Although Percy knew who it was, he had to make sure. He put on his Glasses. The name projected above her head.

Annabeth.

When they looked at each other, there was only silence between them. Annabeth did some things in her own UI before a notification popped up on Percy's screen.

* * *

 _Annabeth has invited you to a duel. Will you accept?_

 _Yes No_

* * *

 **A/N: I figured I would end it there :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Glad to see you guys liked it. I haven't yet decided on the pairing of this story, so I'll just read the reviews to see what you guys want :D. Now, I'll answer some questions.**

 **Zayden StormVoid: That's a very in depth review. Thanks! And technically, you're right about the class. But he's a Duelist. Physical class is like one of the categories of the available classes. As for who he falls in love with, *wink. What team he will be in, you'll find out soon. And as for if Nico's still gay, no. Not that I have a problem with it.**

 **Primordial of the Whoniverse: We'll see :D**

 **pappinjordan17: Thanks!**

 **Bionic608: I haven't really read other gaming stories other than Warcross, – which is a good book in my opinion – so I can't really say that I have a decent idea of being unique. And yeah, I try to write by my own schedule and not feel the pressure of wanting to squeeze out chapters half-heartedly. Thanks for the tip!**

 **Now, on with the story**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Percy is now standing in the middle of an empty basketball court, surrounded by buildings in all sides except the one side facing the street.

To her demand, Annabeth wanted to have a private match against Percy with no one watching. Security guards dressed in black suits were guarding the open side of the court. They really treated the pro players of Olympia like a celebrity.

"So it's going to be a normal one-on-one match," Annabeth said as she put her Glasses on. Her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail. "Normal rules. But since we're not really in an official ring, whoever yields or is unable to continue will be the loser."

Percy nodded. For some reason, he felt very nervous. Annabeth gave out an aura that just made the air heavier. It doesn't really make sense but then again, neither is Percy going against one of the top players of Olympia.

Through his Glasses, Annabeth's attire changed. She wore a lightweight leather armour on top of what looked like a red sweater with vambraces and black combat pants. Around her neck was a grey scarf, flowing down her back.

She had grey shoes on, but it seemed more thicker around the sole of the shoe.

Her outfit was designed to minimize defence and to increase her mobility, which is a nice choice since she's an Assassin. Percy wore his outfit, the usually black coat and two swords.

"Pretty basic," Annabeth commented after taking a good look of his battle outfit. "Are you not taking this match seriously?"

Percy shrugged. "I only started playing Olympia yesterday. I don't have all those cool items you guys have."

She smirked. "A rookie indeed," She took out her weapon, a bronze dagger that's a bit larger than your average kitchen knife, probably sharper and deadlier too. "Ready?"

Percy took a deep breath and exhaled before taking both of his swords out. He nodded.

In a flash, Annabeth disappeared from his sight. Her body blurred and turned invisible. Percy looked around to see if he could see her, but she was nowhere to be found.

At the very last moment, Percy could see the tip of her dagger glinting right in front of his face. Percy dodged just in time and struck at where he'd seen the dagger with his swords.

He had only managed to get a strike as he hit nothing but air. Percy then felt himself getting kicked from the back and he felt flat on his chest. He could hear the ground shook just slightly as footsteps came rushing at him. He rolled out of the way instinctively and heard the sound of metal clanging against the concrete.

Percy swiped his leg underneath where he'd just heard the sound and felt like he'd hit something. There was a yelp and a sound like something fell on the floor.

When he heard it, Annabeth's invisibility broke and revealed her sitting on her butt. Percy wasted no time in going straight towards her, both swords ready for the attack.

But her abilities in this game were well known. Annabeth slid herself away from the attack, closer towards Percy. She gave him a kick to the chest, in which Percy grunted in pain and was pushed back.

She immediately got up and rushed in towards Percy, going on the offence. Percy thought with him having two swords and a better reach than her tiny dagger, he would have the upper hand.

It proved wrong as Annabeth weaved effortlessly around his wild attacks. The fact that he was just a rookie was now showing as Percy blindly swung his swords around. Annabeth just dodged around until she found that one opening where Percy had committed to an attack too much. Annabeth sidestepped a thrust from his sword and grabbed his wrist, twisting it to disarm him.

Percy yelped in pain as Annabeth kneed him in the back, causing him to stumble. As he fell, he still felt Annabeth's hand gripping his wrist tightly with one knee on his other hand and her sitting on his back. Her dagger was pressed against his neck, leaving Percy with no options left.

"I yield," Percy grunted reluctantly. He could hear Annabeth smirking as the pressure of his back lessened and his wrist was let go. He turned around and lay on his back with Annabeth standing over him.

"You have talent," Annabeth admitted grudgingly. "But you lack experience and technique."

"How would you know?" Percy grumbled.

She grinned, like she was happy to explain it to Percy. "First, you're right-handed. You're not ambidextrous. That makes the sword on your left hand more of a dead weight than a weapon."

Percy didn't want to admit it, but she was right.

"Second, you lack the proper stance and fighting technique." Her outfit changed into normal again as the match was over. "You fight like a rookie, which is no surprise there."

As Percy stood up, she went closer towards Percy. "And lastly, you lost your head."

Percy frowned. "What do you mean?"

"When you realize I was coming at you, you panicked and swing your swords like a madman. You lost your cool and was desperate to defend yourself. I couldn't even count the amount of openings that you gave out." Annabeth took her Glasses off. "I'll admit this: You have reflexes. Not many pro players can dodge my attacks while I'm invisible. And yet, you don't know how to utilize that. You just react to it without thinking."

Percy found her remarks to be extremely irritating. But he had no grounds to stand on. She was a pro player. Percy had just picked up Olympia yesterday.

Plus, everything that she said was on point. Her observation skills were amazing. No wonder she was regarded as one of the top players of Olympia.

"You're far from a pro player," Annabeth said. "Or a rookie, for that matter."

"Are you here just to bash me?" Percy asked as he gritted his teeth.

"You said it yourself. You've only started playing Olympia yesterday. To be honest, I'm not that surprised that I won." She said as she stepped closer to Percy. "But like I said, you have potential. And we, at Minerva, are always looking out for players with potential."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Are you doing what I think you're doing?"

Annabeth snickered. "We'll see at the Rookie Showcase." She said. "I'll be expecting to see you there." She walked towards her car – which was a limousine, by the way – accompanied by her bodyguards. Before she entered, she told him one last thing. "This match never happened. If I see you yapping around about this match, I will make sure that your chances of getting recruited at the showcase goes down to zero."

"Tempting," Percy said. Annabeth glared at him. "Fine."

She entered the car and drove off. One of her bodyguards gave Percy a grey business card with Minerva's official contact number and email address.

He looked at the bottom right of his screen to see a friend request from Annabeth herself, accompanied with a message from her.

* * *

 _From: Annabeth_

 _To: Percy_

 _And just to make sure you understand, yes, I was trying to recruit you. The look on your face made me unsure if you understood me or not._

* * *

Percy replied.

* * *

 _From: Percy_

 _To: Annabeth_

 _I think you're just finding an excuse to talk to me. I'll see you at the showcase._

* * *

Percy noticed that it was already half past eight. He was an hour and a half late to school. But considering the circumstances on what just he figured he could just take his time.

Since he wasn't that eager to go to school, Percy decided to stop by the Orphanage. Today, for some reason, Thalia didn't tackle him to the floor like she usually does.

He entered the building only to find Hestia cleaning things up. When she saw him, she had a smile plus a confused look on her face.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school today?" Hestia asked,

Percy shrugged. "Something came up." He said. "Where're the kids?"

"They're asleep," She said. "Are you hungry?"

"Am I ever _not_ hungry?" Percy grinned. Hestia just chuckled as she gestured him to follow her to the kitchen. Percy followed her. "You know, I think you should open up a restaurant. Just a small one."

"Please, you compliment me too much," Hestia said with a smile as she prepared a sandwich for Percy. "Though Thalia has been eager to see you,"

"I'm guessing she wants to have a match against me in Olympia," Percy smiled. "I'll play with her later."

"I guess she even got _you_ into the game," Hestia chuckled. "You kids and your games these days."

Percy raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't you play Olympia as well, Hestia?" Percy pointed out. "I've seen you cheering for one of the teams."

Hestia nodded. "You can thank Thalia for that. She'd been the reason why the kids here had started to play Olympia as well. I don't play it that seriously. I just love to watch the professional games."

Percy managed a small laugh before his train of thoughts wandered off to the events before this. So far, Rebellion and Minerva had both tried to approach him. Did he really want to join the pro scene? He'll admit that he found Olympia to be a lot more interesting than he had initially thought it would be. He found that he wanted to be better than anyone out there.

But he didn't want that famous life of a pro player. He didn't want the spotlight on him and people worshipping him like he's some sort of god. He was afraid that if he does go pro, he'll lose his mind.

He was interrupted from his deep thoughts when Hestia called out his name. "Percy? Helloo?"

Percy blinked a few times before his mind jarred back to reality. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Hestia chuckled. "Your food's ready." She handed him a plate of cheese grilled sandwich with extra cheese, just the way Percy liked it.

"Thanks," Percy smiled widely as he dug into his food.

"What were you spacing out about?" Hestia asked.

Percy swallowed his food before sighing. "A few of the pro teams have approached me in the past few hours."

"So I've heard," Hestia said. Percy raised an eyebrow at her. "What? It's all over the news. The news about your match with the other guy spread like wildfire."

"Anyway, I'm having a bit of a dilemma between going pro or just laying low."

"Why? Isn't going pro a good thing?"

Percy finished the rest of his food and wiped his mouth off with a tissue. "I'm afraid I'll go insane just like the other players. Besides, I don't want to leave you guys. Who's going to come over here and finish all your food? And Thalia will be devastated if I left."

Hestia smiled at him as she ruffled his hair. "Do you want to be a pro player?"

"Well, I want to be better than everyone. The game does that to you," Percy muttered.

"Then why are you even debating about this?" Hestia said. "No one knows who you'll be in the future. What you can do is pave a path for yourself so that you be what you want to be."

Percy whistled. "That's really deep. You've been reading some motivational books lately?"

Hestia smacked his shoulder playfully. "I'm being serious. And you don't have to worry about us. I know you. You'll come back here no matter where you end up in the future."

"How are you so sure about that?"

"Because no one cooks a grilled cheese sandwich the way you want it like I do," She wiggled her eyebrows.

"Well, I can't argue with that."

 **Line Break**

By the time Percy reached Crimson College, the time was nine in the morning. Percy figured that everyone must be in class right now, so he should have no problem getting into his class.

The keyword here is _should_.

"Jackson!" A voice shouted. Percy looked around to see Luke storming towards him. He was glaring daggers at Percy. "You've got the nerve to show yourself around here."

Percy smirked. "I study here. What are you on about?"

Luke grabbed Percy by the collar. "Don't look so smug, Jackson. I gave you that win on purpose. I wasn't in my best gear." Luke was shaking with anger. Percy guessed his reputation as the top rookie was damage when Percy defeated him.

Percy glared at Luke. "A loss is a loss, no matter how you put it. Learn how to cope with it and stop being a big baby about it." Percy pushed Luke away from him.

Luke gritted his teeth and went for a punch. Percy was expecting it so he dodged out of the way and let Luke's momentum propel him forward, sending him tumbling down to his chest. He stood up, anger evident on his face. "You'll pay for that."

Percy noticed a crowd was starting to form around them. He decided to use that so Luke would get off his back. "You really want to do this in front of everyone?" Percy gestured around them. "You'll only hurt yourself more."

Luke grumbled. He knew he wasn't in a good position. If he beats Percy up, he'll look like the dickhead of the month. If he doesn't do it, he'll look like a cowards.

"The Rookie Showcase!" Luke announced out loud. "We'll have our rematch there." He walked up and gripped Percy's shirt by the collar. "And don't think I'll go easy on you this time." He glared at Percy one last time before storming away, shouting at people to get out of his way.

Then the crowd swarmed at Percy, bombarding him with questions and friend requests. Percy had barely enough room to weave around and run from the crowd.

He found himself inside his classroom, with no one inside. He breathed out a sigh of relief as his knees collapsed and sat down on the floor.

The last twenty-four hours has been rather eventful for Percy. He'd picked Olympia for the first time since it came out, he'd won against one of the top rookies in the world, he'd been approached by several teams, and he had a chance to have a match against Annabeth Chase, one of – if not _the_ – best Olympia pro player up to date.

"You know," A voice said at the back of the classroom. "You have a really bad habit of making yourself the centre of attention."

Percy looked towards where the voice came from to see Nico grinning at him. Percy groaned as he stood up.

"And you have a bad habit of appearing out of nowhere," Percy muttered. "What are you doing here?"

Nico frowned. "I study here."

He mentally facepalmed himself. He knew Nico had been one of his classmates since he'd been to this school. He was just didn't care to notice.

"Good point." He sat down next to Nico.

"It seems you have a busy morning," Nico raised an eyebrow at him. "I heard Annabeth herself has come down to see you."

Percy widened his eyes. He hasn't talked to anyone about it. No one knew. But apparently Nico did. Was he going to get in trouble for this.

The look on his face must've been funny because Nico laughed. "Relax. Annabeth told Piper, Piper told Beckendorf's girlfriend, she told Beckendorf and Beckendorf told me."

"Well, she said not to say anything about the match, so, I don't know what you're talking about." Percy said nervously, not wanting to ruin his chance at the Rookie Showcase before it even began.

Nico shrugged. "I understand. Minerva's a scary team. They have connections all over the world." Nico crossed his legs. "Which brings me to my next question. Have you decided on which team you'll join?"

"How do I even join a team?" Percy asked.

"You really don't know anything about Olympia," Nico said while shaking his head. "You know about the upcoming Rookie Showcase, right?" Percy nodded. "It's an event organized by the creator of Olympia to bring fresh talent each year into the professional scene of Olympia. This is where rookies get their big break. It's an event to showcase your talents as an Olympia player to tell everyone that you got what it takes to become a pro player. Hence the name, _showcase_."

"Rookies, like you and me." Percy added. Nico gave a 'not really' look.

"I am a Rookie. So is Luke. You, on the other hand, are a Wildcard."

"Uh huh," Percy said, clearly not understanding anything.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Rookies get _invited_ to the showcase. Meaning that they worked their asses for it and are deemed qualified in the eyes of tournament organizers and other top pro players." Nico pointed at Percy. "Wildcards, on the other hand, are players who didn't get invited directly to the showcase but are voted by the community. It means that people think that you have the potential to become a professional Olympia player that other pro players don't see."

"So, I'm the community favourite?" Percy guessed.

"In a way, yes." Nico said. "I'll admit this though, as you had probably guessed, the Rebellion is keeping an eye on you."

"How do you know?"

"I've been keeping in touch with them." Nico grinned. "Although it hasn't been officially announced yet, my spot in the Rebellion is guaranteed."

"And you're telling me this because?"

"I just think you're going to be a nice addition to the squad." Nico said. "I saw what you did yesterday with my own eyes. You are probably the fastest player in Olympia, and that's really saying something."

"So you're here to convince me to join the Rebellion?" Percy asked. Nico nodded. "How do we even know that they're going to try and recruit me? You said it yourself, they have been keeping an eye on me and that's about it."

Nico grinned. "Give them one hell of a show at the showcase and they'll go for you,"

Percy's head was starting to swirl from everything that's been happening. "I'm gonna need time to think."

Nico seems to understand. "Well, don't think too long. Remember, you're not the only rookie out there." He said as he stood up and left the room.

Percy put on his AR Glasses to see that he had a ton of friend requests from the crowd before. He decided to decline every single one of them, since he didn't know any of them. Though he did get an email.

* * *

 _From: blank_

 _To: Percy_

 _Stay away from the showcase if you know what's good for you._

* * *

"What the hell . . ." Percy muttered to himself as he read the message. He thought it was probably just a spam mail, so he deleted it.

And then, his Glasses rang. He had an incoming call. He looked at the Caller ID.

Artemis.

He answered with a bit of hesitation. "Hello?"

* * *

 **A/N: I'm feeling a bit guilty, so I'm gonna give some credit to the book _Warcross_ , which had slightly inspired the making of this story. It's a good book, so give it a read.**

 **Two things I want to talk about.**

 **First, I feel like some of you are confused by the amount of explanation that's been going on in the first chapters. Maybe it's just me. So I had in mind to make one of those like quick guides for games, just to explaining all the general and basic things that you should know about Olympia as a game. Is it a good idea? Is it bad? Or are you guys fine either way? Tell me in the review segment.**

 **Also, I need you guys to determine on what the pairing should be. You can go ahead and leave your opinions in the reviews. Just be fast with it because if I start to write about Percy's relationship, there's no turning back. Choose swift and wisely my fellow readers.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I really do read every single review that you guys gave me. It just motivates me to write more with such nice and kind words. Also constructive reviews! Thanks for that for those of you who did that. Now, as the situation stands, Pertemis is what you guys want the most, though some say they want Percabeth. Don't worry. There'll be a few more chapters left for you guys to decide on the pairing of this story. But for you Pertemis fans out there . . . Here's a little something as a treat. Enjoy the chapter :D**

 **Dinklebergsc3: Ask and you shall receive!**

 **Bionic608: Stop with the cliffhangers? Sometimes. I like to keep you guys waiting. As for how long this story would last, I'm not too sure about that. I have a somewhat clear image on how I want to end it, but the writing is just how things go. So, stay tuned for that.**

 **JC RH: Thanks for that! I appreciate these kinds of reviews. Hopefully, I'll be able to maintain this until the end.**

 **Zayden StormVoid: Glad to see you liked it! I really do enjoy your reviews. It helps clear the image on how I should write this story and where I'm going with it. So, thanks!**

 **Let's get on with the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Percy stood in the middle of the empty Crimson College Arena. By now, everyone has gone home so the school should empty.

He paced around the court until he heard the Arena doors open. Walking towards him was a woman with the same age as him. Her auburn hair flowed lusciously down her back. She was wearing a silver hooded parka with jeans and Reebok sneakers.

 _Artemis,_ Percy thought to himself.

"Hey," Percy greeted with a smile.

Artemis smiled back at him. "It's been a while." She said, stepping closer to Percy. "Since we're along like this."

"It has, hasn't it?" Percy said, his voice getting lower by the second. "How are you? I heard your team has been doing well this past couple of months."

Artemis smirked. "I thought you said you didn't play Olympia back then."

Percy stammered. "I-I mean I just read it in some news reports. It just happened to be there." He wanted to die right there and then because it was too embarrassing for him.

Luckily, Artemis managed a small laugh as the tension between them broke.

Now, you might be wondering. Clearly there's a story here between the two of them. Well, here's the thing.

They used to date each other.

 _Cue the gasps of disbelief._

But that was in the past. Percy and Artemis were dating for almost a year back then until she finally got her big break at the pro scene. Then she decided it was best to break up. While Percy didn't want to, he knew he had no choice. Artemis was going to play Olympia professionally and there was nothing Percy could do to stop it. He would just get in her way and Artemis wouldn't have the time to constantly be with him.

So, out of mutual respect, they parted ways.

But that was two years ago, when they were sixteen. They haven't spoken to each other since. It was kind of difficult, especially since Percy didn't use AR Glasses back then. But he does still miss her. He just doesn't know if Artemis felt the same way.

"I've been doing fine lately." Artemis admitted as they both took a seat on the nearest bleachers. "I've become captain of the Hunt and currently, we're preparing for the Rookie Showcase."

Although he pretended that it was new news to him, it wasn't. Percy has been keeping tabs on Artemis's progression over the past few years. He felt like a creepy stalker, but hey, he was a teen.

"That's good." Percy said nervously. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Artemis stroked a strand of hair behind her ear. He loved it when she does that. "Um, I was wondering if you're going to be in the Rookie Showcase next week."

"Yeah," Percy nodded. "I'm going to be a Wildcat, or something like that."

Artemis chuckled. "It's Wild _card_ , you dork."

Percy remembered the insane amount of times that Artemis had endearingly called him a dork. While it annoyed Percy at first, he has grown into it. "Yeah, that thing," Percy smiled.

"Have you decided on what team you're going to be joining?" She asked. Her voice was strangely soft. Maybe it was just Percy.

"Not yet," Percy sighed. "To be honest, I haven't thought about it that much. With all that's been going on lately, I didn't really have that much time to gather my own thoughts."

"So I've heard," Artemis said. "I'm guessing you know why I'm here."

Percy nodded. Though he was happy to see her after such a long time, and he knew that she was also happy to see him, they both knew what this was really about.

"The Hunt has been strong lately. I see a lot of potential in you. And this is me talking without taking into account about our past." Artemis said.

That sort of hit a sore spot, but Percy managed to hide it. He nodded absently. "I'll think about it."

Artemis looked at him with a sad smile. "It really is good to see you again Percy." She held his hand. "I've missed you." Percy only managed a smile as he pulled Artemis into a hug.

"See you soon, Arty," Percy said as they pulled away. Artemis put her Glasses on and did some things in her UI. When Percy put his Glasses on, he already had a friend request waiting for him. He accepted without hesitation. Artemis gave him one last smile before she exited the building, leaving Percy alone once again.

Then an email arrived in Percy's inbox. At first Percy thought it was Artemis, but the sender was from Nico.

* * *

 _From: Nico_

 _To: Percy_

 _Saw that. Why do the top players all go to you, man?_

* * *

Percy rolled his eyes as he replied.

* * *

 _From: Percy_

 _To: Nico_

 _Have you been following me? You're creeping me out._

* * *

Then, Nico emailed him again.

* * *

 _From: Nico_

 _To: Percy_

 _I have my ways._

* * *

He sent it with a grin emoji. Percy shook his head as he took of his Glasses and put them away. He exited the Arena and headed towards the Orphanage.

He found that Grover was waiting for him at the entrance. "Where have you been? I've been waiting for like fifteen minutes."

"Something came up." Percy said.

"And this morning, you were late for school!"

"Yeah, something came up." Percy said again.

Grover rolled his eyes. "What something?" They started to walk back home.

"Well, I can't say anything about this morning."

"Did you sign an NDA?" Grover asked. It stood for non-disclosure agreement.

"Kind of." Percy said. "But as for just now, um, well, I just saw Artemis."

Grover stopped him. "Hold up," He said in disbelief. "You saw Artemis?" Percy nodded. "As in, _Artemis_?" Percy nodded again. "Like, your ex girlfriend Artemis?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Yes, Grover. _That_ Artemis." Percy sighed. "She was trying to invite me to join her team."

"And?"

"I said I'll think about it."

Grover sighed. "You have never failed to surprise me, Percy."

"Well, I don't plan on stopping now," He grinned. "Are you stopping by the Orphanage?"

"I've got some stuff I've gotta do. There's a lot of homework to do, plus I gotta –"

"Hestia's making enchiladas tonight."

"I'll stop by."

 **Line Break**

Grover sometimes stopped by the Orphanage along with Percy, so he was a familiar face around here. The kids have taken a liking to him. Plus, Hestia had always liked Grover's reaction whenever he gets a taste of her cooking.

When Percy entered, he anticipated Thalia perfectly this time. When Thalia went to tackle, he just stepped to the side and let her run past him and into Grover. He huffed in pain as Thalia tackled him to the ground.

"Holy mother," Grover muttered in pain. "Are you practicing Judo or something?"

Thalia laughed. "Well, it's Percy's fault for moving out of the way."

Percy held his hands up innocently. "I wasn't the one charging towards him like a bull." As Grover got up, Thalia smirked at Percy.

"So, you ready to have that duel?"

"You're so on." Percy said as he put his Glasses on. Thalia did the same. When the invitation for a duel popped up, Percy accepted.

"First to the floor loses?" Thalia asked as her attire changed. She wore a black leather jacket studded with spikes on the shoulders on top of a black t-shirt. She wore tattered jeans and combat boots while her wrists were wrapped in chains.

Her weapons were a spear and shield that sent shivers down Percy's spine. The bronze shield had the imprint of a woman with snakes for hair on it. It was Medusa, one of the monsters from Greek mythology. Although it was just a game, Percy couldn't help but feel a bit terrified at it.

"You're on," Percy said with a nervous smile. One way or another, that shield has gotta go. "Grover, do you mind being the referee?"

"Sure thing," Grover said. "So, are you ready?" He asked Thalia. Thalia nodded. He then turned towards Percy. "You ready?" Percy thought about taking both of his swords out, but he remembered Annabeth's advice. So he just took one of the swords out and nodded at Grover. "Fight!"

Thalia moved first as she rushed forward and thrusts her spear at Percy. He twirled out of the way and was going to strike Thalia straight at the head, but her shield was there to block it. Thalia pushed his sword away before she punched Percy's chest with it, causing him to stumble.

From what Percy's seeing, Thalia's class is a Vanguard. They tend to carry a shield and a melee weapon with them, acting as a Tank. Vanguards are notorious for being what people call an 'immovable object', due to their strong defence. On the offensive side, they are known for their powerful counter attacks but that's about it.

One weakness about this class is that they have low mobility. It means they don't move around much, so pretty much the exact opposite of Assassin's who utilizes speed and mobility.

"That hurts," Percy said.

"Good," Thalia grinned. Percy moved on the offensive again, trying to get through to that terrifying shield. For some odd reason, his movements felt sluggish and slow. It felt like his sword was heavier than it usually is.

Percy's sword got parried again by the shield and was met with a powerful kick to the gut. The counter attacks from Thalia was not to be messed around with.

The tables turned as Thalia saw her chance and thrusts her spear forward at Percy. He sidestepped the attack and yanked the spear from her hand. She yelped in surprise as she was disarmed. It gave Percy enough time to make a downward strike towards Thalia. She raised her shield above her head, blocking the attack.

Percy smirked as he knew he was going to win. Using that brief moment of hesitation, he tried to sweep his leg underneath Thalia's so the she would collapse to the ground.

Again, the keyword here is _tried_.

Percy felt like he was moving through lead. He knew that his foot was not this heavy and his movements were not this slow.

Thalia seemed to move faster as she brought her shield down to the floor, smacking Percy's foot with the edge of her shield. Percy yowled in pain as he dropped to the floor while holding his foot.

"And the winner is, Thalia Grace!" Grover announced with a mouth full of enchilada. "Hestia, these are so good!" He said to Hestia who was observing their little match next to Grover.

"Thanks," Hestia smiled appreciatively.

Thalia walked over to Percy with a wide grin on her face. "I win."

Percy grumbled. "Yeah, yeah. That's just our first match. I will beat you in the second one." Thalia just stuck her tongue out at him before going to the others kids to brag about her victory. He went and sat next to Grover, grabbing an enchilada for himself. "Man, I really thought I had it."

"Yeah," Grover said as he swallowed a lump of his food. "If it hadn't been for that shield effect, you would've won."

Percy stopped eating. "Shield effect? What's that?"

Grover rolled his eyes. "Dude, seriously? Have you not read Olympia's Newbie Guide yet?"

"Haven't had the time to do so." He took a bite out of his food.

Grover sighed. "I'll give you brief explanation. Some weapons and items have status effects. Status effects are generally things that affects your fighting capabilities. For example, Thalia's shield – Aegis, it's called – has a status effect that inflicts Slow on the enemy. That means every bit of your movement will be slowed down."

Percy smacked his knee. "So that's why I felt like I'd gained thirty pounds when I fought against her."

Grover nodded. "Aside from that, there are also a bunch of other status effects like Paralysis, Blind, Poison, and etcetera. I suggest you go through them just so you don't look like an idiot after this."

Percy nodded. He really needed to look that guide up.

 **Line Break**

After that brief stop at the Orphanage and Percy swearing revenge against Thalia, – who'd been teasing him non-stop about his loss – he had finally arrived home.

He took a warm relaxing shower before collapsing onto his bed. Just before he went to sleep, he decided to check into his AR Glasses one more time. He scrolled through the Olympia News website. There were a bunch of articles talking about the upcoming Rookie Showcase and who are the pro teams going to recruit from the fresh roster of new talents. One article did catch Percy's eye.

* * *

 _Percy Jackson and Nico di Angelo are seen talking with each other. Is Percy Jackson joining the Rebellion?_

 _The famous Wildcard contestant for this year's Rookie Showcase, Percy Jackson, has been seen together frequently with Nico di Angelo, one of the top Rookies of the season. Nico has already been confirmed to join the Rebellion after the Rookie Showcase through the team's announcement._

 _Seeing these two young talents together, you can't help but wonder if Percy Jackson has already chosen his pro team, should he's qualified for it. So far, the only teams that has shown complete interest in this unknown talent is the Rebellion and Minerva, as stated by the team's captain, Annabeth, in their previous press conference._

 _Percy Jackson, the newbie who had won in a match against the top rookie of the year, Luke Castellan, had taken the Olympia community by storm when he'd defeated Luke in just mere seconds. While the community has voted him the be a Wildcard contestant during the Rookie Showcase in six more days, we have yet to receive any word from Percy himself. If he really does plan on going pro, then these kinds of exposure are what he needs._

* * *

Percy rolled his eyes. He emailed Nico.

* * *

 _From: Percy_

 _To: Nico_

 _Did you do this?_

* * *

He send the email along with the link to the article. Nico just replied with a winking emoji.

As he was about to take his Glasses off and go to sleep, an email notification popped up. At first he thought it was Nico just messing with him again. But then he looked at the sender.

* * *

 _From: Artemis_

 _To: Percy_

 _I really do mean it when I say that I missed you, Percy. This is not me trying to butter you up so you would join my team. It just felt so good meeting you again._

 _Goodnight, Percy._

* * *

Percy couldn't help but smile at the email. He responded almost immediately.

* * *

 _From: Percy_

 _To: Artemis_

 _I missed you too, Arty. It was good to see you after two years, three months, and twenty one days. But hey, who's counting?_

 _Goodnight, Artemis._

* * *

With that thought in mind, he went to sleep.

 **Line Break**

Percy woke up to the sound of someone furiously banging his door. At first he thought it was Mr. Funk, demanding for this week's rent. But then he remembered that his rent has been covered for the next year.

He looked through the door's peep hole. He couldn't see anything, which means it's being covered. Percy had no choice but to open the door to see who it was.

As soon as he turned the handle, the door burst open and Percy was grabbed by big guys who was manhandling him. He struggled, but to no avail. Partly because the guys that were holding him were built like pro wrestlers and partly because he was still half asleep.

They held him down on the couch, where a girl stepped into the room and stood in front of him. The first thing Percy noticed about her was her piercing black eyes. They looked like they could cut carrots in half. Her glossy black hair was tied into a single braid and her face was regal and beautiful from a Hispanic descent. When Percy looked at her, she has this look on her face that tells everyone, _try and come at me and we'll see how that turns out_.

"So, the famous Percy Jackson," The girl looked him from top to bottom. "After all these news I've heard about you, I expected you to be . . . more."

Percy glared at her. He knew who she was because she's the captain of one of the strongest teams in Olympia's competitive scene, the Roman Legion.

It was Reyna.

"What do you want?" Percy growled.

"What else?" Reyna said. "I want you on my team."

"Well if this is your invitation, then consider this my way of declining." He gave her the middle finger. One of the big guys grunted and wanted to smack Percy in the head, but Reyna stopped him.

"Aurum, Argentum, come over here please." Reyna called. From the apartment door, two guys come out. They were identical twins, with their only difference was the colour of their eyes. One of them had silver eyes and the other had golden eyes. They look like they were constantly snarling as well. Reyna turned towards Percy. "Now, which teams have approached you into joining them? And please, don't lie. Aurum and Argentum knows bullshit if they smell one."

Percy was about to tell her to piss off when his AR glasses started to ring. Reyna's did as well at the same time. Percy wanted to answer the call, but the big guys were still holding onto his arms. "Let him go," Reyna ordered before they released him. Percy put on his Glasses only to find him in a video call with Reyna and Annabeth.

The video call worked differently then how Percy imagined it to be. The AR glasses projected real time 3-D images of Annabeth through their Glasses. So it felt like she was really there with them.

"Annabeth," Reyna said grudgingly with a bit of a tense voice. "What do you want?"

Annabeth smirked at Reyna. "I want you to lay off of Percy." She said.

Reyna snickered. "Do you really expect me to believe that Minerva is going after someone as unpredictable as Percy?"

Annabeth smirked at Reyna. "You'd better."

"I know you, Annabeth. You hate things you can't control. You won't go for him."

"Call my bluff," Annabeth dared her.

Percy cleared his throat, making both females turn their attention towards him. "I really don't think I should be here. Can you guys just settle this somewhere else?"

Annabeth wanted to answer, but Reyna got there first. "I will be in touch with you, Percy." She said coldly as she turned the video call off. "Let's go." Her bodyguards, including Aurum and Argentum, started to exit the room. "Don't think this is over, Percy Jackson." Reyna warned him one last time before slamming the door behind her.

Percy was starting to think that Reyna and Annabeth have some bad blood with each other. And Percy was now caught in the crossfire.

 _Just my luck,_ Percy thought to himself internally.

 **A/N: Despite the little Pertemis moment in this chapter, the pairing has NOT been decided. It'll be up to you guys on who Percy's going with. From what I see, Pertemis is going to be the favourite pairing for this story. Just leave it in the reviews on who you think is fit to be with Percy.**

 **And I know Percy is kind of sucking at this point. But hey, where's the fun in making him OP at the beginning of the story? And I know that some characters, like Reyna and Artemis, are not very 'themselves' in this story but hey, it fits the plot.**

 **And there will be more surprises in the next chapter. So, stay tuned!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm not gonna lie. I felt proud about myself in that last chapter. The response from you guys are great. And while it does have some resistance, it looks like Pertemis is going to be how the story goes. There's still time. So don't worry about the pairing just right now.**

 **As you've noticed in my writing, I tend to not name any real places in this story. This is because I don't have a good way of describing places. Also, I want it to be a bit more loose so you can imagine the scene the way you see it. I can just go write and tell that these things are happening in New York, but hell, I know nothing of New York. I'll trigger everyone.**

 **LordAlces: Thanks! I do want to keep her close to how she originally is in the books with just a 'slight' change.**

 **Guest: For items, I guess you'll just have to wait and see. And yeah, don't worry. I do sleep. I just have a lot of spare time in my hand. Plus, it's been a while since I've started writing and I'm just excited to write again. Thanks!**

 **Dinklebersc3: Same for me, good sir.**

 **Zayden StormVoid: I just have a lot of spare times. I also just limit the number of words I write in chapters. Usually I just write until I think it's appropriate to end it, which always seem to take 5k-7k words. It was tiring. So I just said, 3k per chapter would be enough and no need to rush it. And as for which he'll choose . . . *wink.**

 **Percabeth 8531: You are confusing me.**

 **Let's get on with it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

After learning about the status effects, beating Thalia seemed to be easier than it was before. While it took a little effort, Percy wasted no time in making sure Thalia fell on the floor first.

Percy smirked at her. "I win." He said, looking down at Thalia who was sitting on the floor.

Thalia glared at him. "How can you be so good in such a short time?" Percy helped Thalia up.

"I'm a fast learner," Percy shrugged.

He was grateful for this little match between him and Thalia. It helped him get his mind off of the fact that Reyna was trying to force him into her team.

"Well, we're tied now on the score." Thalia admitted as she sat down on the couch. Percy followed next to her. Thalia, being the little girl she is, decided to put her legs across Percy's lap while she lay down on the armrest of the couch.

"Uh huh," Percy raised an eyebrow at her. He wasn't surprised. He knew Thalia was comfortable around Percy. Sometimes a bit _too_ comfortable. Case in point, the legs.

"So, have you chosen any teams that you may have liked?" Thalia asked. "The showcase is in five days. There's still so much for you to learn."

She sounded genuinely concerned for him. "Haven't picked one," Percy admitted. "I don't know how I'm even supposed to decide."

"From what I've heard, the Rebellion and Minerva are keeping tabs on you." Thalia stretched her arms and yawned. "An international team is looking out for you too."

"International team?" Percy asked. "Who?"

"The Flamers,"

"That sounds like a hate group."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "It's an international team led by Frank Zhang. Along with Hazel Levesque and soon-to-be official member, Leo Valdez, they are the most powerful offensive team in the world." Thalia's eyes seem to be glinting up as she explained more. "While they don't have a very good defence, their offensive capabilities can make any defence crumble."

"Interesting," Percy muttered. "Hey, where is Jason anyway? I haven't seen him this morning."

Thalia shrugged. "He said he's going out with some of the kids and was going to grind for items in PvEs. He's trying so hard to beat me."

"Makes sense." Percy said. He looked at his watch to see it was almost time for school. "Well, I better get going."

Thalia pouted. "You're leaving already?" Percy nodded. He gestured for her to remove her legs from his lap. "At least fight me one more time?"

"Nope," Percy grinned as he lifted Thalia's legs and he moved out of the way. "You're just gonna lose on that."

"I won't."

"We'll see," Percy smirked. Thalia just stuck her tongue out at him as he left. Percy didn't really feel like going to school, since he'll just get bombarded with questions and friend requests, which was annoying.

As he walked down the sidewalk, Percy looked at a nearby parking lot, which was unbelievably empty. He saw some kids that were fighting, but they didn't seem like they were fighting each other. Percy put on his AR Glasses to see what was really going on.

It was a PvE. These kids were going against an enemy that Olympia had made. It was a monster that looked like a mix of a human and a bull that stood on two legs and was almost ten feet tall. From the shoulder down, he looked like an Olympic bodybuilder covered in brown fur. Above his shoulders, the head of a bull sprouted out with horns mean enough to gut you. He wore a bronze breastplate as an armour and held a large axe shaped like the Greek letter Omega.

From Percy's display, above the monster displayed his name – Minotaur – alongside his health bar.

Percy watched as the Minotaur swiped his axe sideways, sending all of the kids backwards. The monster roared before heading back and his health went back to full.

Percy went over to those kids who were sprawled on the floor. He didn't see it before from far away, but he noticed that one of them was Jason.

"Jason?" Percy called.

Jason looked up and grinned. "Oh hey Percy," Jason said. "What brings you here?"

"I was just passing by," He shrugged. "So, you guys are doing a raid, huh?"

"Yeah." Jason scratched the back of his head. "We've been trying since morning, but the monster's just too tough for us."

"Need some help?" Percy offered. This would make a great reason for not going to school.

"You sure? Aren't you going to be late for school?"

Percy shrugged. "Meh." He said simply as he put his backpack down.

Jason grinned. He turned towards the three other kids that were with him. Two of them Percy recognized were the Stoll brothers. Travis and Connor. As twins, both of them were real troublemakers at the Orphanage. They would always play pranks on other kids. They both have this mischievous glint in their eyes that made Percy be wary of his pockets around them.

The other kid was Katie Gardener. Her brown hair was tied into a ponytail and her jacket was tied around her waist. She's always like the 'boss' among the younger kids. She bosses younger kids around and tell them to behave. She also always helps Hestia with gardening all the time.

"So, what are your classes?" Percy asked.

Connor and Travis grinned. "Assassins,"

"I'm a Fencer," Jason said with a slight smug on his tone. A Fencer is one of the most mobile classes in Olympia, probably up there along with Assassins. They use a rapier – or two rapiers, depending on the player – to attack. Although they don't land big hits like Assassins do, they make up for it by doing quick attacks. These people attack you like fifteen times in five seconds. They don't do a lot of damage per hit, but they can hit you a lot of time to deal insane amount of total damage. Their defences only consists of parrying and dodging.

"And I'm a Druid." Katie said, blowing a strand of her hair away from her face. Druids are one of the Support classes. They do nature magic, which suits her perfectly. Similar to a Fencer, Druids don't have big burst heals that restores your health instantaneously. Instead, they apply a heal-over-time effect, which heals you per second in intervals. They also have some offensive abilities and spells to cripple the enemy.

Percy noticed to problem. "No tanks?" Percy asked.

Everyone shook their heads. "No one plays as a tank in the Orphanage except for Thalia, and I didn't want to bring her along."

Percy thought of a strategy for this. The hours he spend watching videos of Olympia tournaments are paying off. "Okay, I have a plan."

 **Line Break**

When they were ready, they changed into their combat attire. Percy had never been in a party before, so it took a while to get used to. Where his health bar was shown at the upper right corner of the screen, below it was a list of people who was in the same party as he was which is Jason, the Stoll brothers, and Katie. Below their names were green and blue bars that displayed their current HP and MP respectively.

As soon as they got within ten meters of the Minotaur, his head perked up, noticing that he now have some company. He stood up and grabbed his axe which looked like it could slice a school bus as easy as Percy could slice butter.

"Remember the plan," Percy said. "Katie, stay at the back and use your magic to cripple him. If you see any of us with low HP, just use your heals."

Katie nodded. He turned towards the boys. "The rest of us are going to aggro the monster in turns, so we don't get hit a lot."

They all nodded as they charged forward.

'Aggro' is short for aggression. It is what draws enemies in Olympia to attack you. The more you attack it, the more aggro you will build for yourself. If you're in a team PvE, the player with the most aggro will be targeted by the enemy. This is why tanks are designed to be the easiest to draw in a monster's aggro. It is so they can absorb all the hits while the rest of their teammates can dish out damage.

Since they don't have a tank, Percy decided to make sure the Minotaur's aggro switches around between him, the Stoll brothers, and Jason so that none of them take too much damage.

It was Percy's turn first. Percy was just using one of his swords in this fight. They had made sure that Percy landed the first hit so he would draw the Minotaur's aggro. It worked as the Minotaur fixed his beady eyes at Percy. He roared loudly before he swung his axe in a downward motion. Percy rolled out of the way before stabbing the Minotaur in the gut.

The monster howled in pain as he grabbed Percy like an action figure. Percy struggled to break free, but the Minotaur's grip was like iron.

"Jason!" Percy called out. Jason understood as he did five thrusts at the Minotaur's leg followed with a swipe of his rapier. The Minotaur roared in pain and turned his attention towards Jason. He let Percy go and lumbered over towards Jason. Percy straightened himself up as he rushed towards the Minotaur. The Stoll brothers were no where in sight, but Percy noticed the wounds that were evident around the Minotaur's legs. Travis and Conner had went invisible and were striking at the Minotaur silently. The Minotaur swiped his axe sideways as Jason jumped over it. Percy used that brief moment after its attack to slash at the Minotaur's legs, right behind the knee. The monster buckled and dropped to one knee.

Then, out of nowhere, tendrils of roots sprouted out from the tarmac and wrapped itself around the Minotaur's arms and legs, rendering him immobile. Percy glanced at Katie briefly to see that he'd just cast one of her Druid spells.

"Now!" Percy commanded. All of them sprang into action, including Katie, to unleash their fury on the Minotaur. Percy took note of the Minotaur's HP bar that had turned from green to yellow after it went past the halfway mark. The Minotaur's body started to tremble as his brown fur turned reddish.

"Everybody back off!" Jason shouted, which was a good call since the Minotaur broke free of his bonds and now looked angrier than ever. He threw his axe away and started to charge towards Jason, horns first.

As big as the Minotaur was, he wasn't slow. Jason had no time to get out of the way as he was sent flying a few meters back and landed roughly on the tarmac. Percy looked at his HP bar and was worried of how low it was.

"Katie, heal him." Percy said. Katie understood as she casts a healing spell at Jason. A light green glow started to surround him as Jason's health was starting to regenerate bit by bit, but it wasn't quick enough.

The Minotaur was ready to charge again at Jason who was currently still down in a daze, but the Stoll Brothers came to the rescue as both Travis and Connor appeared in the Minotaur's line of sight and slashed at his snout.

The monster reared back and roared at the twins, preparing to charge them. As he did, the twins nimbly moved out of the way. Connor had managed to break one of his horns free as the Minotaur roared in pain. The trade off was that he'd managed to backhand Travis who was sent flying slightly.

Percy assessed the situation. The adrenaline was kicking in as his mind went to overdrive. Jason was still down, his health was dangerously low. Travis was also down and the Minotaur was now eyeing on Connor, who had one of the Minotaur's horn in his hand.

"Katie," Percy said. "Is your Root spell up yet?"

"In twenty seconds," Katie said. "But I'm still healing Jason."

Percy nodded. "As soon as it's up, use it."

"But what about Travis – " Percy was already on his way towards the monster. Connor was doing well, dodging about the Minotaur's swipes and punches, but it wouldn't last forever.

Percy yelled as he sunk his blade straight into the Minotaur's ribcage. While the monster roared in pain, he kept his eyes on Connor.

Percy cursed mentally. By breaking one of the Minotaur's horns, Connor had built up way too much aggro. Percy took his sword out of the Minotaur and his other sword on his back. He slashed and hacked at the Minotaur, trying to take it's aggro off of Connor.

The Minotaur noticed him as an annoyance as he just swiped his hand at Percy, on which he blocked, before continuing to attack Connor.

"Katie!" Percy grunted against the Minotaur's hand. "Is it up yet?"

"Seven seconds!" Katie said.

Percy slashed both of his swords at the monster's knee, causing him to buckle. Percy then stabbed one sword at the Minotaur's chest while the other he slashed at the snout.

The Minotaur's health bar had turned red. By the time, he was eyeing on Percy and his breath was steaming. He punched Percy square in the chest, which knocked the air out of him and sent him flying away. He'd lost his sword as it skittered across the tarmac. The Minotaur roared as he charged at Percy, getting closer by the second.

Percy closed his eyes, hoping that it wouldn't hurt, but the impact never came.

Percy opened his eyes nervously, only to see the Minotaur struggling against the same tendrils of roots that was holding him before.

The Minotaur's horn was literally inches away from Percy's face.

Percy let out a nervous laugh. "You really like cutting it close, don't you?" Percy said. He took one of his sword that was stuck in the Minotaur previously before finishing the fight.

Then, a notice popped up in all of their display saying:

* * *

 _Congratulations!_

 _You have defeated the World Boss : The Minotaur!_

* * *

"You're kidding," Percy said. "That was a World Boss?"

Katie grinned. "We like a challenge."

 **Line Break**

They sat later in a diner to discuss about the item drops.

The item drops all went to the party leader, which is Jason, who's going to distribute them around equally. For himself, he took something that looked like an eyepatch.

"What's that?" Travis asked.

"The Bull's Eye," Jason wiggled his eyebrows. "It improves your accuracy reduces the effects of Blind."

Travis just shrugged as Katie waited for her share of the item drop. She got the a ring made out of some kind of black material. "Acceleration Ring," Jason explained. "It lowers the cooldown of all of your spells." Katie's face lit up as he thanked Jason.

For Connor, Jason gave him one of the rarer item drops. Since he had managed to break the Minotaur's horn, he got the Bullhorn Dagger, which Connor said was an improvement from his previous dagger. He smiled gleefully as he quickly tried it straight away. Travis got the Minotaur's armour, in which he replied, "Good enough."

"Now, for Percy," Jason gave him a metal ring with the head of the bull designed on it. "The Bull's Ring. It'll increase your speed by ten percent. So you'll be faster than ever before."

Percy grinned. "Nice. Well played, Jason." Percy stood up from his seat. "Well, that was fun guys. I had a really good time."

"We do as well," Jason smiled. "Next time if you're going to go against some enemies, just give us a call and we'll be right there."

"You can bet on it." Percy said. "See ya later!"

 **Line Break**

Percy was on his way home when he had an email from Nico.

* * *

 _From: Nico_

 _To: Percy_

 _Heard you beat your first World Boss today. Nice one._

* * *

 _From: Percy_

 _To: Nico_

 _Honestly, I'm worried. Do you have people following me?_

* * *

 _From: Nico_

 _To: Percy_

 _Like I said, I have my ways.*wink emoji_

* * *

 _From: Percy_

 _To: Nico_

 _How was school? Was anyone looking for me?_

* * *

 _From: Nico_

 _To: Percy_

 _Beckendorf showed up with his girlfriend Silena._

* * *

 _From: Percy_

 _To: Nico_

 _And?_

* * *

 _From: Nico_

 _To: Percy_

 _Nothing. They just showed up._

* * *

 _From: Percy_

 _To: Nico_

 _I hate you._

* * *

Percy sighed. He was glad he wasn't at school since it would've been tiring. Plus, he'd managed to learn a few things about Raids and World Bosses, so that's always a plus.

Percy laid down on his bed, tired after his fight with the Minotaur. He opened up his inventory to check on the item that Jason gave him.

He was kind of elated to get an item drop from a monster that makes him more powerful. He really liked that feeling of being rewarded after a hard work.

He wanted more of it.

He searched up at the Olympia community forums to see if there were any raids that was going on tonight. Just his luck, there was one and it was just around the neighbourhood.

Percy looked at the details of the raid. It was a full on twenty player raid with random people. First come, first serve. They were going to fight the Hydra, a multi-headed dragon that could spit acid and was beyond the level of an average player.

He grinned at the challenged as he signed himself up for it.

He looked at the list of the other players who was joining this raid as well. He knew none of them . . . except one.

Shit.

Artemis is in it.

 **A/N: Dun dun dun!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Good god I can't stop writing.**

 **Percabeth 8531: Good to know!**

 **LordAlces: It's evening for me here, so goodnight!**

 **Zayden StormVoid: I always like reading your reviews. I try to reference the anime a bit here and there without making it too obvious. And yeah, #Supports4Life**

 **Psp500: Thanks!**

 **SoulEmperor7: We'll see *evil grin**

 **Sophie: A bit salty, aren't we?**

 **Let's get started.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

That night, Percy stood at the entrance of the town's football stadium along with the other players who were joining the raid. It had been booked for this PvE event by one of the players. The Hydra is one of the most popular World Bosses thanks to its immense difficulty and rare item drops.

Everyone kept glancing at Percy, probably wondering what someone who was in the Rookie Showcase is doing here. Despite that, they welcomed Percy. They just figured that he's here to have fun just like everyone else.

Aside from the twenty players that were on this raid, there were several other people who are most likely spectators or streamers, people who broadcast these kinds of things so that other people could watch them at home.

As Percy introduced himself to some of them who're going to be his teammates for the night, he heard a number of gasps and whispers behind him.

He turned around to find himself face to face with Artemis.

As usual, she looked gorgeous under the night sky. Percy might be crazy, but he'd always figured that night time was made specifically for Artemis. It was like the night complimented her beauty.

"Hey," Artemis greeted him with a smile.

"Hey," Percy smiled back. "You're in this as well?"

"Just figured this was a good way of clearing my head," Artemis said.

Then, a voice behind them spoke out. "Alright. Is everyone ready?" He looked like someone who would play the 'old wise man' character in any film. He was a middle-aged man with thinning hair, bushy eyebrows, intense brown eyes, and a scruffy beard. He wouldn't have though a man like this would play Olympia actively, and yet here he was.

Percy put on his Glasses. The name projected above his head.

Chiron.

It was an odd name but hey, who was Percy to judge?

Everyone nodded as Chiron led them inside the football stadium. The stadium lights sat at the four corners of the place, shining intense white light towards the field surrounded by bleachers. It was an open stadium, so they were going to fight under an open sky.

The spectators and streamers took their seats on the bleachers. There weren't many of them. Probably around fifty or so, scattered around. The rest of them crowd stood at one end of the field.

At the other end of the field, the Hydra was resting.

Up close, the Hydra looked terrifying. The body reminded Percy of a scaly lizard he always sees in pet cages. But at the neck part, they split up and extended into nine different heads. Each one of them was diamond shaped and had a mouth that was lined up with razor-sharp teeth. From what Percy had read in the Olympia forums, each one of the head can spit acid and some of them can breathe fire.

As if the 'spit acid' part wasn't terrifying enough.

While some of the players looked a bit nervous, some had wide grins across their faces, like they're eager to get into action.

"Alright," Chiron said up front. "Who's going to be the captain?"

Everyone looked at each other. "How about you?" One person asked Chiron.

"No. I'm terrible at leading." Chiron said. "Anybody else?"

They all looked at Artemis, who was standing next to Percy. Since Artemis was the captain of her team, the Hunt, they were hoping she would be their captain as well.

To their surprise, Artemis shook her head. "I'm not here to captain," She said simply. Percy raised an eyebrow at her while Artemis just shrugged.

"I'll do it." A man said. Percy turned to look at who it was. He had the face of an Asian with military style hair cut. He was built like a soldier as well, standing at maybe six feet tall and was buff enough to be a linebacker. "Frank Zhang, at your service."

"Very well, Zhang," Chiron nodded. "You'll lead the party."

Frank nodded. He turned towards the group. "I need the tanks to step in front." He said imposingly, as if he was born to do this.

The way he'd just issued his command made Percy want to obey him. Without hesitation, five guys stepped froward, all dressed in heavy armour and shield that looked thick enough to withstand a moving truck.

"You guys will be at the front lines. Protect your team at all costs. Understood?"

The five tanks straightened themselves. "Yes sir!"

Percy leaned towards Artemis. "Why do I feel like obeying his commands?"

Artemis chuckled. "He's the captain of the Flamers. An international team. His parents are in the military, so he gets it from them."

Percy nodded. Then, Frank announced again. "I want all Magic classes and Archers at the back of the group."

This time, Artemis snapped up. "Yes sir!" Before going at the back of the group. Percy noticed that Chiron was also at the back. Through his Glasses, a bow was slung across his back.

This left Percy with three other people. Frank walked towards them.

"The four are going to be our damage dealers," Frank said. "Stay focused and don't do anything reckless, understood? We don't have enough healers for you."

"Yes sir!" The other three said while Percy just nodded. Frank seemed to notice that as he kept his gaze on Percy for a while before going at the back group, where he took his bow out. Everyone was wearing different sets of armour. Some, like the Archers and Assassins, wore light armour while the tanks wore heavy armour.

The crowds of spectator and streamers were getting bigger and they were cheering for them. Probably they've heard the news about Artemis and Frank – two captains from well known teams – being here.

"Forward!" Frank shouted as all of us moved forward. With every step, Percy's heart seems to beat slower and slower in anticipation.

When they were about fifteen meters away from the Hydra, all nine of its head perked up, noticing us. It got up on its four legs and without hesitation, spat acid at us.

"Break formation!" Frank shouted out as everyone dove out of the way. One unlucky guy got caught in the acid spray as his health bar diminished to zero in just a second.

He whined as he walked out of the way, careful not to disturb the rest of the raid.

Percy noticed that he was one of their damage dealers. Which left Percy and only two more guys.

"Tanks!" Frank ordered. "Do your job!"

The five tanks moved forward and spread out into a semi circle, surrounding the Hydra. As the Hydra heads attacked them rapidly, thanks to it having nine heads, the tanks never moved. The sound of the Hydra's fangs clanging with the tanks' shield filled the night.

"Archers!" Frank drew his own bow. "Fire!"

Streams of arrows flew across the night sky, most of them hitting the Hydra. Some missed, but none of them had hit any of their allies.

Percy watched as the Hydra's health bar dropped just a bit. The Hydra roared as it continued its barrage of attacks at their tanks.

"Heal the front line!" Frank ordered. "Archers, keep up your damage!"

Percy and the other damage dealers waited by the sidelines. They were waiting for an order to be given to them. Above the Hydra's health bar, but below the name, Percy saw a series of symbols lined up.

Status effects and debuffs, Percy figured. They showed what kind of status effects were inflicted at the Hydra. Some, Percy could recognize like Poison and Bleeding. Poison deals damage to the target's health bar for a set amount per second, while Bleeding makes the target take damage the more it moves.

By now, the Hydra's health bar is rapidly going down. Percy could hear the crowd around them cheering for their success.

As soon as the Hydra's health bar reached its halfway point and it turned yellow, the situation changed. The Hydra roared loudly as its head started to multiple. The current head splits into two and growing from it, making it eighteen heads in total.

"What the hell . . ." Percy muttered.

"Now!" Frank shouted. "Cripple the monster!"

Percy could hear a variation of spells being cast at the Hydra. The amount of symbols that were lined up across the Hydra's health bar was insane. Then, the Hydra had stopped moving for some reason.

Percy caught one symbol that explained why: Paralysis.

"Attack with all you've got!" Frank shouted.

Everything broke into chaos. Percy and the other damage dealers sprang into action as they sliced and diced at the monster, attacking as fast as he could. Thanks to the Bull's Ring from Jason, his body felt a lot lighter.

Due to the Magic classes at the back lines, the Hydra was bombarded with explosions, lightning strikes, tornadoes, blizzards, and many more spells.

The cheering around Percy got wilder as they screamed for the Hydra's death.

Thanks to the Paralysis inflicted on it, the Hydra had no way of attacking. He watched as the Hydra's health bar was rapidly decreasing. Some of the Hydra heads were cut off from this onslaught.

A grin flashed across his face. They were going to win this, easily.

Then, the Hydra's health bar dropped to below ten percent and it turned red.

Percy could feel the chill down his spine, like something bad was supposed to happen.

The Hydra broke free of the Paralysis and started to snap its teeth and the front liners, including Percy. For everyone at the back, the Hydra heads spat out fireballs and acid.

The Tanks tried to keep the Hydra's attention towards them, but the back lines have built up way too much aggro. Percy noticed something else.

All the debuffs and status effects that were previously inflicted on the Hydra were all gone. It was now replaced with two buffs. One of them was Increased Regeneration. As the name said, it increases the rate of which one's HP replenishes. Percy looked back at the Hydra's health bar and sure enough, it was rapidly increasing. The Hydra heads even grew back, but only to their original state and not split into two.

But that's not the worst part. The worst part was the second buff the monster got.

Immunity.

It means that the Hydra is now unaffected by any sort of debuffs and status effects.

They were in deep shit.

The Hydra marched towards the back lines, ignoring Percy and the other front line players. Frank was trying to give orders, but he was too busy dodging acid and fire. While they tried to set up their defences as best as they could, all eighteen Hydra heads were too much to handle.

The raid party was crumbling as more people got their health bar reaching zero. As the Hydra continued its rampage, they were left with seven people left including him. From the list of people in his party, he saw that Frank, Chiron, and Artemis was still alive.

He found one of the tanks left in this fight. A Shieldbearer. He huffed next to Percy. "They weren't kidding when they say it's not for average people."

Percy was panting. He was getting tired. Percy saw that most of his allies have dangerously low health bars. Percy turned on the team communication so everyone could hear him.

"Are there any healers left?" Percy asked. Even though out of the seven of them, Percy had the highest amount of health left.

"I'm here," A guy answered. "But I don't have that much heal. I'm an Enchanter."

"Keep your healing on me," Percy said. "I'll draw its aggro." The Hydra was still on red health, which means it has at least ten percent of its HP left. "You guys just deal as much damage as you can."

"Percy, you're insane." He heard Artemis said in the team communication. "You can't out damage us all."

Percy didn't wait for an answer as he rushed forward towards the Hydra. Since he's going to go all out without defending anyway, he took both of his swords out.

The Hydra was about to take out one of his teammates when he appeared out of nowhere and sliced the head off of the Hydra. His body and sword felt surprisingly light.

Luckily, the Hydra that Olympia had made doesn't include the 'grow-two-more-heads' function that the Hydra from the myths had. They figured eighteen heads was overpowered enough.

All seventeen Hydra heads snapped at him. Percy stepped back fast enough to avoid being bitten like a chew toy. As the Hydra fired and spat a fascinating mix of fire and acid, Percy weaved through them almost effortlessly. His mind went into overdrive as the Bull's Ring was put to work.

He was going to beat this monster.

Percy made a baseball slide as one of the heads snapped at the space where his body has been before digging his foot on the ground and pounced the other way, his swords slicing at the neck.

Sixteen to go.

Percy could see a few arrows streaming across the sky, landing on the Hydra and dealing some bits of damage, but they weren't enough to draw the aggro away from Percy.

Which was nice.

Percy was too late to see one of the Hydra spat out a fireball at him from the left. It hit him perfectly, but he didn't feel anything.

He looked at his health bar to see a buff applied to him. Immunity.

"It's not gonna last long," The Enchanter said.

"Thanks," Percy grinned as he moved away. The sixteen Hydra heads went towards him relentlessly, hitting him several times as he dodged the other attacks.

Percy could see his health bar being brought down low by the Hydra, but it was countered coming from the heals from his teammates as his health bar refilled again.

The crowd cheered wildly at Percy's performance. The Hydra still had a chunk of HP left and Percy was running out of strategy.

One of the Hydra heads was going for the kill on Percy, but he was in the middle of the air. There was no way he was going to dodge this.

But then, the Hydra head was bombarded with explosions, making it disintegrate into nothing. Fifteen heads to go.

Percy looked up to see a female Sorcerer, still in the game and had saved Percy's backside. "You owe me for that," The Sorcerer said as she lifted her staff again.

"Keep it up, but don't do too much damage." Percy told her. She nodded. Behind her was Artemis, Chiron, and Frank Zhang, all firing arrows at ridiculous pace.

"Mind if I join the party?" The Shieldbearer from before said as he ran towards the front of the Hydra. Percy didn't notice this before but both of his hands held two gigantic pieces of thick metal that looked like half of a shield. When he put them together, it formed a shield so massive that it was enough to cover his full body. The Shieldbearer let out a War Cry. A skill for tanks to draw a monster's aggro.

It worked as the Hydra turned its attention towards the Shieldbearer.

"Focus your heals and buffs on him!" Percy said.

"Got it." The Enchanter responded.

"Artemis, increase your damage output!" Percy ordered. She stayed quiet but he knew he heard her when the arrows started to come at a faster rate. The Hydra ignored it as he went for the Shieldbearer. Every attack the Hydra does, be it with its fangs, flames, or acid was rendered ineffective thanks to the Shieldbearer's defensive capabilities and the Enchanter's buffs.

Shieldbearers have no real offensive power. Their real value comes defensively. They can withstand almost any kind of attacks, which makes them the absolute definition of a Tank.

Percy ran towards the Shieldbearer and slid under him. Just as the Hydra had swooped its head in for an attack. Percy cut that one off as well, leaving him with fourteen more heads to go.

"Yo, Sorcerer!" Percy shouted as he dodged the fireball of one of the Hydra heads. "Did you stop casting?"

"Thought you'd never ask," Percy could almost feel her smirking. The Sorcerer – or Sorcer _ess_ – casts a lightning bolt straight from the heavens that struck right next to Percy. The lightning bolt had disintegrated four of the Hydra heads. "Booyah!" She cheered.

Ten more to go.

"You almost killed," Percy grumbled as he got out of the way of an acid spray. He dodged the swipe of the Hydra's legs and then sliced it off. The Hydra crumpled to one side. "Root him!"

"Ten seconds!" The Enchanter said.

Chiron then started to speak up. "Don't let up now! Keep attacking!"

Percy could hear the crowd screaming and cheering for them to win. Percy could hear his heartbeat thumping against his chest. The adrenaline was starting to kick in as his ears felt hot.

"Keep its attention!" Percy told the Shieldbearer.

"What do you think I'm doing?!" He said as he grunted at the Hydra's attack. The Hydra was sensing defeat as well. It starts to attack wildly again, but it's kind of hard when you're missing a leg.

All the Hydra heads started to thrash around wildly, making Percy think he's looking at a swirl of spaghetti noodles. The Shieldbearer was at his limits. His health bar was critically low and the Enchanter can't keep up.

Percy had to act.

"I need that Root now!" Percy said as he rushed towards the Hydra heads, weaving and ducking under all the thrashing. He found an opening and sliced one of its heads.

Nine.

"Five seconds!" The Enchanter said.

Percy saw a single arrow fired with such force that it penetrates a Hydra head and it immediately went limp. Percy saw Artemis, who had her bow steaming.

Eight.

The Shieldbearer's health was an inch away from zero. "Retreat!" Percy said. He obliged as he stepped out of the way. A Hydra head was going for him, but the Sorceress was faster as it was quickly encased in a block of ice before shattering into pieces.

Seven.

Percy ducked under a swooping Hydra head before spinning himself around horizontally, parallel to the ground and sliced the head clean off. He fell to the ground on his back where he rolled out of the way as all the Hydra's aggro is now on him.

Six.

Has it been five seconds? Percy didn't count. The adrenaline made it feel like time was moving through lead. One of the Hydra head almost got to Percy when the Shieldbearer came in with the clutch save, punching the incoming head with his shield, causing it to stumble back in a daze. Percy used this moment to cut it off.

Five.

Then, from the ground, earthen tendrils crawled out and wrapped themselves around the Hydra's legs and around five of its head. Percy grinned as he made his way towards it and sliced each one of with ease. Four . . . Three . . . Two . . . One . . .

By that time, Percy was on the ground panting. The Hydra looked helpless with just one head left on his body. The six other members of his party gathered around him, all with looks of tired and happiness mixed together. Percy hadn't noticed it before, but the stadium was at full capacity. It was overloaded in fact as there were people who stood by the sidelines and not on the bleachers. Helicopters were hovering above the field with spotlights and cameras directed at them. How had Percy missed that?

"Do the honours," Frank said with a proud look on his face. Percy turned around and looked at the Hydra one last time before delivering the last blow.

* * *

 _Congratulations!_

 _You have defeated the World Boss : The Hydra!_

* * *

The crowd erupted into a massive cheer. As the adrenaline left Percy's body, he felt himself passing out of exhaustion. The last thing he remembered was Artemis rushing in trying to catch him.

* * *

 **A/N: Ta-daa! Man, that was fun to write. I was hyping myself as I was writing this story. I hope you guys have as much fun reading it as I had writing it.**

 **Now, for the pairing. It seems you guys are still on the fence on whether it's going to be a Pertemis or Percabeth. Welp, only one way to solve it.**

 **The Poll.**

 **On my profile will be a poll on what pairing should I give Percy. I'm going to give you two chapters to decide. And since I'm updating like a rabid dog, that's not a lot of time. Get to voting fellas!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: You guys are just awesome. All of a sudden, Percabeth shippers appeared out of nowhere and it looks like a tight race. Don't worry. I have a little treat for you in this chapter. You guys have about one chapter left after this one before I officially decide on the pairing. So keep on voting folks!**

 **Touka: We'll see.**

 **Zayden StormVoid: I know, right? I was hyping myself as I wrote the chapter. And the Chiron part could've been better, but hey (** _ **shrugs).**_ **And for the poll just look at my profile. There should be a poll announcement at the top of my bio. It's around there.**

 **Reyna: Interesting . . .**

 **JC RH: I like Percabeth as well (though it may not seem like it) but I'm still undecided on this story. Welp, it should be decided in the upcoming chapters.**

 **Cynaotic: I know, right? Surprised me too.**

 **Ilovedragons2014: There are so many more, but I'm not gonna write all of them.**

 **merendinoemiliano: It depends. If I feel like writing, then I would write a whole bunch of them and update like three times a day. If I feel tired, I take a break.**

 **Now, onwards!**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Percy woke up to the sound of the monitor beeps in the hospital. He groaned as he tried to sit up straight. His vision was blurry as he rubbed his eyes.

His hearing was still a bit fuzzy, but it sounded like two people were in an argument in the room.

"Wha?" Percy managed. Then, both people looked at him.

"Percy?" A female voice called. "Can you hear me?"

"He's already awake. No need to panic," The other female grumbled. His vision cleared to see two of the least expected people that Percy would've guessed to be in the room.

One of them was Artemis, who had the look of genuine concern. The other was Annabeth, who looked like she's impressed that Percy was still alive.

"What happened?" Percy asked.

Artemis sighed in relief. "After defeating the Hydra, you passed out from exhaustion."

"And this _huntress_ overreacts, thinking you've died." Annabeth smirked. "Called almost everyone she knew."

"I didn't!" Artemis protested, but Percy knew she was lying. She would always bite her lower lip if she's lying. "Well, I was just worried."

Annabeth smirked. "Well, he's fine. Can you tell everyone outside that there's nothing to worry about?"

Artemis glared at Annabeth. But she knew that she had to do it. "Fine," She glanced one last time at Percy before giving him a small smile and exited the room, where Percy heard a lot of people talking and the sound of cameras flashing.

Annabeth looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "You guys seem close," Annabeth said.

"It's a long story," Percy admitted. "She's a friend of mine."

"Uh huh," Annabeth said, clearly not buying it. "Good job on the Hydra though. It's not an easy monster to beat."

Percy noticed the tone in her voice. "You say it like you can do a better job than us."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Of course I can." She said. "But for a rookie like you to take charge like that in the last few minutes. I gotta say, I'm impressed."

"You saw that?"

"Who _didn't_?" Annabeth grinned. "Thanks to Artemis's and Frank Zhang's involvement in the raid, it gained worldwide attention. The part where you took charge of six other people had went viral. Everyone thinks you're captain material now."

Percy shrugged. "Adrenaline rush," Percy explained simply.

"You can't think clearly if you're filled up with adrenaline." Annabeth said. "You're a natural-born leader. Did you notice how everyone followed your command without hesitation?"

Percy had been too pumped up at that moment against the Hydra that he didn't really notice minor details like that. But as he recalled, he did remember.

"Maybe it's because they were fired up?"

Annabeth shook her head. "It's hard to give out commands on players who are fired up." Artemis said. "I felt this too when I first saw you. You're meant to be a leader."

"She's right, you know." A male voice said suddenly that made Annabeth and Percy jump. Percy looked behind Annabeth to see Frank sitting on a chair in the corner of the room with his AR Glasses on. When he saw Percy, he grinned.

"How long have you been here?" Percy asked.

"I was here all along," Frank said. "These two girls arguing about you were giving me a headache." He said as he gestured at Annabeth and at outside where Artemis is.

Annabeth blushed at Frank's comment. "We weren't arguing about him."

"Oh, my bad." Frank said. "They were arguing with each other over you."

Annabeth glared at Frank as her face turned into a shade of red. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom." She said before storming off.

Frank just chuckled. "Honestly, she's just worried about you. She's kinda taken a liking towards you, Percy."'

Percy raised an eyebrow at him. "Me? The Annabeth Chase has taken a liking towards _me_?"

Frank shrugged. "You're more famous than you know." Frank said. "And good job last night."

"You were the leader last night. You deserve the credit."

Frank shook his head. "I kinda screwed up last night. Got too caught up in the moment that I forget to lower the amount of damage we were dealing."

Percy made a look that said, _yeah, you're right._ "You still kicked ass though."

"Not as much as you did." Frank said. "Annabeth wasn't lying when she said you're natural leader. I could see it last night when you didn't answer me when I gave out the orders."

"Meh. Didn't feel like it."

"Which is exactly why you're meant to be a leader." Frank said. He looked at his watch. "Well, I better get going. I have a flight to catch." He shouldered his duffel bag like it weighed nothing. "Check your inventory later on. That's your share of the raid. See you soon, Percy."

Frank left the room. The crowd outside was still trying to get in and get pictures of him, but the door was closed again. Percy slumped back in his bed as he put on his AR Glasses. He noticed two more friend requests waiting for him. One was from Frank and the other was from Chiron. He shrugged as he accepted both of them.

Percy scrolled through the Olympia News website. He found one article that annoyed him.

* * *

 _Percy Jackson and Artemis: A History Before Olympia?_

 _Last night, Percy Jackson made it to mainstream media again as he gloriously defeated the Hydra in a raid. Along in that raid were Frank Zhang and Artemis, both are famous captains from the Olympia's competitive scene. While some may speculate that with the presence of two captains should've made this raid a walk in the park, it turned out differently as the Hydra broke through the group, led by Frank Zhang._

 _During the last moments of the raid, Percy Jackson himself took charge, leading a group of six people in defeating the monster. While he is just a rookie, many analysts and pro players are saying that he might be a top player in Olympia in the near future, maybe even as a captain of his team._

 _Although the victory was impressive, the real story is behind Artemis's and Percy's relationship. They both seem to share a history together as it was shown on how much the captain took care of the rookie. Some of our people found out that they used to date each other before Artemis became a pro player, as seen from the pictures taken from social media. Will this impact Percy's team of choice at the Rookie Showcase? We'll just have to see._

* * *

Percy groaned internally. Why do people like to stick their noses in place where it doesn't belong? He then received an email from Nico.

* * *

 _From: Nico_

 _To: Percy_

 _Good job on the Hydra. And thanks._

* * *

 _From: Percy_

 _To: Nico_

 _Thanks. And what are you thanking me for?_

* * *

 _From: Nico_

 _To: Percy_

 _I made a bet with Beckendorf that you and Artemis were dating before this. I'm now a hundred dollars richer. Oh yeah!_

* * *

Percy rolled his eyes as Artemis entered the room. She sighed tiredly as she leaned on the door. "Is everything okay?" Percy asked.

Artemis walked over and sat next to Percy's bed. "I kinda regret meeting you again," Artemis said, a smile tugging at the edge of her mouth.

Percy feigned being hurt. "I feel like dipping in Hydra acid." Percy said before Artemis laughed. "I heard you're the one who helped me after I passed out."

"Well, I was thinking of leaving you in stadium alone," Artemis said with a thoughtful expression. When she noticed Percy's funny look she chuckled. "You did well last night."

"All of us did well,"

"But you, more than others." Artemis said with a smile. "Percy, I was wondering. Have you ever –" They were interrupted by the sound of Artemis's AR Glasses ringing, which surprised her. "I have to take this. One sec," Artemis stepped over to the window while silently talking, almost whispering.

Percy didn't want to pry into her business, so he just didn't bother to listen. But it didn't help as Artemis shouted, "What?!" before she started to whisper again, this time in a more angrier tone.

After that, she ended the call and went back at Percy. She looked very annoyed.

"What's wrong?"

"Just problems with the Hunt," Artemis grumbled before calming herself down. "I have to go." Artemis looked at him apologetically.

Percy smiled. "It's okay. I understand."

Artemis started smiling again before she went over and kissed Percy's cheek. "Take care, Perseus." She whispered in his ear. No one had ever used his full name aside from Artemis. It sent shivers down his spine.

Percy smiled at her as she waved at him one last time before leaving the room.

 **Line Break**

It took almost an hour to get the press to leave the room. Annabeth had it sorted out.

"The doctors said you'll be fine to leave this evening if you want to. But they recommend you stay the night." Annabeth said. "They also advise against working yourself until you pass out."

Percy raised an eyebrow at her. "Why are you telling me all this? You're acting like you're my secretary."

Annabeth blushed. "Is it wrong for me to help out a friend?"

"Oh, so I'm a friend now?" Percy said with a grin.

"Ugh, forget it." She was about to leave the room when Percy laughed.

"Come on, Annie. You need to learn how to take a joke."

" _Annie_?"

Percy shrugged. "Just a nickname. It's what friends do, right?"

Annabeth glared at him for a few silent moment before she muttered out, "Seaweed Brain."

"Excuse me?"

She grinned. "Your eyes are green. They remind me of seaweed. Since you're not too bright, then your head must be filled with them." She looked satisfied with that explanation. "Yeah, Seaweed Brain. I like that."

"Well, I don't."

"Gotta get used to it." Annabeth said with a smile. "I'm calling you with that name starting now."

"Don't."

"I'm still going to, Seaweed Brain."

"I'm telling you to stop."

"Well, I'm not stopping, Seaweed Brain."

Percy groaned before he crashed himself onto the bed in frustration. Annabeth just laughed. Come to think of it, this was the first time he'd seen Annabeth actually laughed. She looked cute and beautiful at the same time. Before, her demeanour would always be cold as she considered herself to be better than everyone.

Just seeing her like this, being normal and happy without the pressure of needing to be the greatest. It made Percy happy for her.

"Enjoying yourself?" Percy asked as Annabeth gradually stopped laughing.

"I guess I am," Annabeth said with a smile. "So, any plans tomorrow?"

"Uh?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You're a Seaweed Brain."

"Stop it."

Annabeth grinned. "I was wondering if you have any plans for tomorrow?"

Percy thought about it for a second. "I was going to look for more PvE events. I don't think I'm prepared enough for the Rookie Showcase."

"Which is why I'm taking you out tomorrow," Annabeth said. "To show you how big of a deal Olympia is."

 **Line Break**

Percy waited for Annabeth near his apartment building. He dressed casually for this. He wore a blue plain shirt, denim jeans, and Converse sneakers. He didn't feel like standing out, so he was dressed to blend in.

When Annabeth arrived in her limousine, Percy almost laughed.

Her way of dressing casual was an elegant grey dress with heels and a jacket made out of fur. She wore a summer hat and large sunglasses, like she's a diva.

"Are we going to a ball?" Percy asked.

"What? No!" Annabeth said. "We're going to the Olympia market."

"Well, I'm not going with you dressed like that." Percy said. "What happened to the clothes you wear when we first met?"

Annabeth blushed. "I was dressed for comfort. This is to blend in."

Percy shook his head. "We're gonna have to make a quick stop before this."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Where to?"

"You'll see." Percy said with a grin.

 **Line Break**

"Where are we?" Annabeth asked.

"An orphanage," Percy smiled. "Come on in." They entered the place as Percy called out. "Helloo?" As soon as both of them stepped in, Percy was greeted with a tackle from Thalia. Annabeth yelped in surprise. Percy groaned as he was lying on the floor. "Are you ever going to stop doing that?"

Thalia grinned. "Nope." She turned towards Annabeth. "Who's your friend?"

Annabeth had a proud look on her face. "You see? My way of blending in works." She said with a smug grin.

Percy groaned as he stood up. "Because you look weird," He said. He gestured at Annabeth. "Thalia, meet Annabeth. Annabeth, meet Thalia Grace."

Thalia's jaws dropped to the floor. "You mean Annabeth? As in, Annabeth Chase?" Percy nodded with a grin. He knew Thalia admired Annabeth because she was the top player in Olympia.

Annabeth smiled at Thalia's reaction. She held out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Thalia."

Thalia looked like she had found gold as she shook Annabeth's hand. "Um, can I fight you?"

This took Annabeth by surprise. "Excuse me?" She asked while Percy just laughed. Annabeth looked at Percy for an explanation.

"It's just her thing. She likes to fight, especially tough opponents." Percy explained. "The minute I picked up Olympia, she challenged me straight away."

Annaneth chuckled before turning back towards Thalia. "Sure, if Percy let me." Thalia then turned towards Percy with pleading eyes and a face that said, _pretty please?_

Percy chuckled. "Sure. But play nice, you two." He said. Thalia's face lit up with excitement as she hugged Percy tightly. When she let go, Percy asked. "Where's Hestia?"

"At the back." Thalia said hurriedly. "Now go, I need to focus."

Percy shook his head with a smile as he left the two girl alone with their fight. Percy decided to send a message at Annabeth.

* * *

 _From: Percy_

 _To: Annabeth_

 _Go easy on her. But not too easy._

* * *

In a few second, Annabeth replied.

* * *

 _From: Annabeth_

 _To: Percy_

 _Relax, Seaweed Brain._

* * *

Percy rolled his eyes as he took his AR Glasses off. He exited from the back door and went out to the garden. Thanks to Hestia and Katie, the backyard of the Orphanage had turned into an orchard with all kinds of fruits and vegetables. He saw Hestia had just finished with the gardening stuff. When she looked up, she saw Percy and smiled. "Hey Percy."

Percy smiled at Hestia. "Hey," Percy said. "Are you doing anything after this?"

"Well, I'm cooking after this. What's wrong?"

"I need a favour to ask you."

 **Line Break**

Percy and Annabeth were upstairs at Hestia's room as Hestia rummaged through her closet. "I think I have some clothes that might fit you."

"Thanks for helping out." Annabeth said gratefully.

Hestia smiled at her. "No worries, dear." Then, she pulled out a few clothes from the closet. "How about you try these on?" She handed them towards Annabeth. Hestia looked at Percy, asking him a silent question.

"What?" Percy asked, completely oblivious.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Get out, Seaweed Brain."

Realization dawned on Percy's face. "Oh, right. Sorry. I'll wait downstairs." He said before exiting the room and heading downstairs. He went to the kitchen to see Thalia and Jason chatting while having a meal. Thalia was bragging to Jason on how she had the chance fight Annabeth.

Jason was clearly not interested. Percy knew Jason liked playing Olympia, but he had no interest in the pro scene. So he wasn't too hyped about Annabeth being here.

Unlike Thalia.

Percy sat down next to them and grabbed a plate of Hestia's cooking, which was meatloaf. Thalia immediately turned towards Percy and started talking to him about her fight with Annabeth. Jason looked like he'd just been freed from captive while saying 'thank you' to the ceiling.

"You should've seen her." Thalia said. "All her movements and attacks were precise."

Percy swallowed down a lump of his food. "How many rounds did you play?"

"Three."

"How many did you lost?"

"Three," Thalia grumbled. "She's way better than me."

"Of course she is," Jason said. "She's a pro player. You're just and Airhead."

Thalia glared at Jason. "At least I'm better than you."

"No you're not."

"Yes I am!" Thalia argued. He could almost see the sparks fly between the two as they were arguing.

 **(A/N: Get it? Sparks fly? Because they're both children of lightning? Sounded funny in my head.)**

Percy decided to intervene. "Just fight," Percy said as he took another bite of his food. "That's how you guys always settle things."

Jason and Thalia nodded at each other before going to fight for the who knows how many times.

Percy went back to eating, thinking about everything when a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"You're not setting a good example to those kids." The voice said behind him. He turned around to see Hestia standing at the kitchen door.

"Well, it's better than them shouting at each other." Percy said. "Is Annabeth ready?" Hestia nodded. Percy finished up the last of his meatloaf before he went out to meet Annabeth.

Whoa.

Annabeth looked beautiful. Like, naturally beautiful. She wore an off the shoulder white blouse with long sleeves. Along with her sneakers, she wore blue jeans. The only thing in her outfit that looked the same was the summer hat and sunglasses.

Simply put, she looks perfect.

"How do I look?" Annabeth asked. Her blonde hair was tied in a single braid.

"Magnifique," Percy said with a smile.

"I didn't know you speak French." Annabeth said with an eyebrow raised.

"He doesn't." Hestia said. "He just knows that word."

Percy grumbled at Hestia for spoiling his moment while Annabeth just laughed. Percy offered his arm for Annabeth. "Shall we, my Lady?"

"Aren't you a gentleman?" Hestia said. "Haven't seen you like this since, well," Hestia just winked at him. He knew what Hestia meant. Percy appreciate it that Hestia didn't say anything else.

"Do we have to do it like this?" Annabeth asked.

"It's called blending in," Percy wiggled his eyebrows.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Seaweed Brain," She muttered as she wrapped her arm around his. "Well, thanks again for the help, Hestia."

"Don't mention it." Hestia smiled. "Take care now you two."

Percy gave her a goofy grin before waving at her as they exited the building.

"You know," Annabeth said. "Thalia lasted a lot longer than you did against me."

"Of course she did. You went easy on her." Percy said. Annabeth gave him an appointing look. "You're kidding."

"She's a talented player. I might recruit her if she decides to become a pro player."

"You do know if you tell her this, she'll never shut up about this."

Annabeth just laughed as they started their day together.

* * *

 **A/N: A little treat for you Percabeth fans out there. Please keep in mind that after the next chapter, the pairing will be decided.**

 **First of all, sorry for the lack of action scenes in this chapter. It's because I'm writing this chapter with my phone and I just can't be bothered. But hey, you get some fluffs in return. So, I guess it's okay? Hope you enjoy the chapter and don't forget to vote in the Poll!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Oh god if you guys can see the poll right now. It's really close. Keep voting! And oh boy, the questions you guys sent me. I'll try my best to answer you.**

 **rampratheek07: I don't know about the android app, but one way I do know how to find polls is by going on my profile page. The poll should be at the top of my profile. Oh, and make sure you're in desktop mode.**

 **Zayden StormVoid: I can answer your question partly. When you're playing Olympia, you do the actions yourself. So it would make sense for Percy to get tired if he runs, attacks, dodges and all that. As for the other parts . . . ;)**

 **Quihi: Yeah, I know. In my defence, English is not my first language. And I suck at describing things. But I'll try to improve them. Thanks for the tip! And as for Annabeth, yeah. I just made her that way just to be funny.**

 **shadowmere388: Okay. For your first question, here ya go ( /P37FWT5). That should give you a better picture of the class system. Second question, yes. Mana is used, just not yet by Percy. Have you noticed Percy haven't used any form of spells and skills yet? They're used and they exist. Just not by Percy. At least not yet. And last question, *wink.**

 **Cynaotic: Aw.**

 **milkween: Perhaps :D**

 **Now, let us continue.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

"Remind me again," Percy said as he sat next to Annabeth in her limousine. "Where are we going?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "How short is your memory?" Annabeth asked. "We're going to the Olympia Market."

"For what?"

"To help you prepare for the Rookie Showcase." Annabeth said. "I do hope you brought your wallet with you, because I'm not buying you anything."

Percy felt a little offended by that statement. "I can provide for myself, thank you very much."

"That's good, because these people don't take lightly to people with no money." Annabeth said.

"Wait, what do you mean they don't –"

"We're here," Annabeth said. They both exited the vehicle and the place made Percy gasp. It was a circular plaza ringed with buildings that looked like hotels and houses. At the centre of the plaza, Percy could see a huge fountain sprouting water upwards.

The most interesting part in this place were the stalls. There were stalls everywhere, scattered around the plaza that was almost as wide as the Colosseum in Rome. People were bustling around, checking through the stalls and shops looking for things that they would buy. At first, Percy saw nothing. But when he put his AR glasses on, he could see the items sprawled everywhere. Some looked like basic items, others looked like they were one-of-a-kind edition.

"Whoa," Percy managed.

Annabeth chuckled. "I had that same reaction when I first came here." Annabeth said. "This is the Plaza. This is where all kinds of magic happen. Here, you can trade with other players, buy items that you're looking for, sell items you don't want, etcetera."

Percy could hear people promoting their shop to have the lowest prices while other shops were promoting the same thing.

"You can make a living here," Percy said.

Annabeth nodded. "Some merchants, who have the rare items, are super rich." Annabeth stepped closer to him. "But between you and me, some of these items are . . . illegal."'

Percy decided not to question any further as they stepped into the Plaza. Percy could feel Annabeth wrapping her arms tightly around his, careful not to get separated. Thanks to their casual clothes and the bustling atmosphere, hardly anyone paid any attention to them.

Percy and Annabeth surveyed some of the shops and stalls on what they're offering. There were a few items that attracted Percy's attention. Some were just way out of Percy's price range, while some were just too weird for him to use.

Like, who uses an electric back scratcher to fight?

"See anything you like?" Annabeth asked.

"Some," Percy admitted. Then, he noticed one of the shops were selling necklaces. "Let's check that one." Percy said as he and Annabeth went towards it.

The shop was selling all kinds of necklaces. Some looked fake and some looked rare. When Percy hovered his hand over some of them, a message box containing all the info about the item popped up.

"Good morning," The vendor greeted them. "Fancy for some necklaces?"

"We're gonna take a look first," Percy said. Percy looked around to see a variety of them. Annabeth was looking as well, but she kept glancing at one of the necklaces. It was a silver necklace with an owl emblem attached to it. Percy hovered his hand above it. It didn't show anything. Percy lifted his Glasses to see that it was a real necklace. Not one from Olympia.

"Ah, you want to buy the girl a gift?" The vendor smiled.

"Um, what?" Annabeth asked.

"How much is it?" Percy asked.

"For you young man," The vendor said. "Thirty dollars,"

Percy feigned a surprise. "Outrageous," He said. "No more than ten."

"Twenty-five,"

"Eighteen,"

"Done." The vendor seemed pleased with the deal. Percy made the payment as the vendor handed the necklace to him. "Thank you, my friend."

Percy nodded in appreciation before turning towards Annabeth. She had an eyebrow raised. "What?" Percy asked.

"Why did you buy it?" Annabeth asked.

Percy shrugged. "I saw that you kept looking at it. I thought you might like it."

Annabeth seemed to blush but under the hat, it was hard to tell. "Even if I did, I could afford it you know."

Percy smiled. "Now that would defeat the purpose of a gift," Percy said. "Now turn around." Annabeth did so. She pulled her braid to the front so Percy could put the necklace on her easier. Annabeth's face was flushing red. No one had ever did this with her before. No one had ever even gotten her a gift that wasn't on her birthday.

She turned around and faced Percy again. "Thanks," She managed not to combust spontaneously because of how hot her face felt.

"Don't mention it," Percy grinned. "Now, let's walk around for a few more minutes, shall we?"

They wandered around the Plaza, looking at everything the place has to offer. Percy and Annabeth bought some stuff for themselves before they took a seat at one of the cafes in the place.

The waitress came over and smiled at both of them. "Hello and welcome to Hecate's Magic Cafe," She offered them the menus. "For today's special, we have the chocolate swirl ice cream topped with marshmallows and rainbow sprinkles."

"What a mouthful," Percy muttered a she studied the menu. "I'll have the Nectar, please."

"Make that two," Annabeth added. The waitress nodded as she picked up their menus. Percy noticed that the waitress kept looking at Percy.

"We'll have your drinks ready in a few minutes. Thank you!" She said before winking at Percy and walking away, something that seems to annoy Annabeth.

"What's her deal?" Annabeth grumbled. "Why was she winking at you?"

Percy chuckled. "Probably it's just because I'm that good-looking," Percy wiggled his eyebrows.

"How are you okay with this?"

"With what?"

"That waitress winking at you." She looked furious. "You're not supposed to allow other women to do that when you're in a date with one." She caught herself as she'd just realize what she just said.

Percy grinned. "Oh, is this a date, Miss Chase?" Percy leaned closer to her.

Annabeth tried to gather herself. She can't let Percy see her like this. She was a leader that's always composed and never panic in even the most dire of situations. So why was she flustering right now?

"I mean, i-it's just common sense." Annabeth stammered. "Other women can't make a move at you if you're already with someone."

"But I'm not _with_ someone," Percy teased. "I'm just being accompanied by you to walk around the Plaza. There's a big difference there."

Annabeth's face felt hot. She was about to explode when Percy's laugh melted her heart. "You need to relax." Percy said. "I'm just messing with you."

"I don't like being messed around with," She grumbled.

Percy held his hands up in surrender, but a smile was evident on his face. "Alright, alright. I get it." He said. "But you haven't answered my question."

"What question?"

"Is this a date?"

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain."

 **Line Break**

Percy and Annabeth spent the day together until it was night time. They didn't buy many stuff, but they just walked around and explored the Plaza as Annabeth gave him lessons about Olympia.

By the time they arrived Percy's apartment, Annabeth and Percy were walking together up until the entrance to the building.

"Well, today was . . . enlightening."

"Really?" Annabeth smiled. "In what way?"

"In many ways," Percy smiled back.

Annabeth whistled. "Such deep words coming from a Seaweed Brain." She said before letting out a small laugh, in which Percy also laughed. "I had a great time today."

"So did I," Percy said with a smile. Under the moonlight, Annabeth looked like a goddess (much courtesy to Hestia). "Maybe we'll do it again some time."

"Maybe," Annabeth smiled at the suggestion. Then, Percy find himself to be surprisingly close to Annabeth. They stared into each other's eyes. If Percy leaned in just a bit more, their lips would be touching. Percy could feel the heat from her breath against his skin. Their only company was the moon, being their only witness.

The doors then swung open. Percy and Annabeth stopped before pulling away quickly, trying to hide the awkward moment they'd just felt. Mr. Funk, who'd opened the door was carrying two trash bags.

"Excuse me," He said. "Gotta take the trash out."

Percy cursed his landlord mentally in ways he never thought he knew. Once they were alone again, he found that brief magical moment was gone.

"I should get going," Annabeth said awkwardly with a smile.

"Yeah," Percy said absently. "Goodnight, Annabeth."

"Goodnight, Percy." Annabeth said before she walked away and entered her limousine.

That was annoying.

Percy went upstairs to his apartment before crashing face first onto the bed, groaning out loud.

 **Annabeth's POV (just for a brief moment)**

Annabeth had to hold herself from smacking the landlord at the head.

She couldn't believe she almost kissed Percy. She had never done that to anyone. She had never kissed anyone before. She never felt like this before.

Then again, she hadn't met a guy like Percy before. Thanks to her popular status as one of the best Olympia player and a ruthless leader, most boys that met her respected her personal space.

And yet Percy just made her feel . . . normal. He didn't fear her nor did he respected her. He annoyed her, in fact. Something that Annabeth almost found endearing.

The ride home felt really long and empty. Annabeth really wished she could turn back time and just made sure that moment between them happened.

In frustration, she screamed into a cushion.

 **Percy's POV**

Percy sighed as he was laying down on his bed. He put on his AR Glasses to check the news, or sort out his inventory, or watch some Olympia matches. Anything to keep him distracted from what just happened.

He sorted out his inventory along with all the things that he'd bought from the Plaza. At least now he was one step closer to being prepared for the Rookie Showcase.

Then, he scrolled through the Olympia News website. If he found a news article about him again, he was going to pop a fuse.

But surprisingly, something had caught his attention.

* * *

 _People Dying From Due To Brain Damage. Olympia To Blame?_

 _Earlier this morning, a person has been found dead in his living room after suffering from what the doctors classified as a fried brain. This phenomenon can occur if the brain is exposed to an intense amount of microwave for a long period of time._

 _The victim has been found with his AR Glasses on, which are burnt due to short circuiting. The post death autopsy reveals that the microwaves coming from AR Glasses are the cause of death. This has caused a community outrage who fears for their unsafety._

 _The Olympia PR department has released a statement, denying these allegations._

" _The players of Olympia have nothing to fear. Our devices have been tested in multiple scenarios and under multiple conditions for up to a hundred years. The only way that this could happen is that the device that the victim was using is tampered or it's a cheap knock-off." – Olympia._

 _The police tries to investigate if what Olympia saying is true and that the device is tampered or a cheap imitation. But there is no way of knowing since it was so badly burnt. This event has caused Olympia's stocks to drop massively and their player base has reduced significantly. Whatever lies for Olympia in future, we'll just have to wait to find out._

* * *

Percy was slightly worried. Olympia hasn't had an issue since the day of its release. Now all of a sudden someone had just died from playing it. He had just gotten into it as well.

Then, his AR Glasses started to ring. He looked at the Caller ID. It was blank. Percy frowned. Can you even call someone with a blank Caller ID?

Percy thought maybe it's Nico playing pranks on him. So he answered. "Hello?"

There was nothing but static. "Hellooo?" Percy called out.

Then, he could hear a distorted voice. It was clear that the caller wanted to remain anonymous since his voice was tampered.

"If you know what's good for you," The caller said. "Stop playing this game."

"Who is this?" Percy tried asking but the call had already been cut off. This was getting freaky. Percy decided that he needed some sleep before he had to deal with this.

 **Line Break**

Percy got woken up in the middle of the night when his AR Glasses rang. He groaned at who might be calling him at this time of the night. He drowsily put his Glasses on and looked at the Caller ID.

It was Artemis. Percy answered immediately.

"Hello?" Percy said in a daze.

"Hey," Artemis said in the other end. "Are you awake?"

"I am now," Percy said.

"Sorry for disturbing you." Artemis said. "If you want to go back to sleep, then go ahead."

"Nah, it's fine." Percy said as he rubbed his eyes and sat up straight. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing," Artemis said. "I just feel like we didn't get a chance to talk much at the hospital."

"To be fair, I was injured," Percy said with a smile. He could hear Artemis laughing softly.

"You're such a dork." Artemis said. This made Percy reminisce the times when he and Artemis was still dating. They would call each other in the middle of the night, just to annoy each other. "Percy?"

"Yeah. Still here." Percy said.

"Do you hate me?" She asked, her voice being ever so soft. "About back then."

Percy thought about it. He knew Artemis was asking about two years ago, when she left him to play Olympia professionally.

Was he happy with it? Not really. Did he accept it well? Heck no. Was he mad at her? Maybe slightly. Did he hate Artemis for it?

"No." Percy admitted. Artemis stayed silent, waiting for him to go on. "I wasn't too happy about it and maybe I was even mad at you for a moment. But I never hated you."

"Even after all this time?"

"Yes, even then." Percy said. Then, she said something that Percy didn't expect.

"Sorry," Artemis said, her voice was fragile. "I'm sorry for leaving you back then."

Percy smiled sadly. "Nah, don't worry about it. You did nothing wrong. It's all a thing in the past now." From the other end, Percy could hear Artemis sobbing. Was she crying? "Why are you crying?"

"Why are you so nice to me?" Artemis asked. "I mean, I left you and you're still so nice."

Percy wanted to say that he still had feelings for her, but he was afraid that it would jeopardize this current relationship that he had with Artemis. "Well, maybe it's because I get it."

Artemis waited for him to continue. "I mean, it was your big break. You've told me countless times about how your dream was to be a professional Olympia player. When your chance arrived, I knew that I was going to be a burden." Percy sighed. "I didn't like it. I never liked it. But I knew I had to do it. I wasn't going to be the reason that you didn't go for your dreams. I'm not going to be the one that's going to hold you back."

Artemis's sobbing has lessened. "You never change, do you? You've always been so kind."

Percy managed a sad smile. "And you need to stop crying. Captains don't look good when they cry."

Artemis chuckled. "This is your fault."

"How is this my fault?" Percy asked. Artemis laughed, which was good to hear.

"You were just saying sappy things that made me emotional."

"Yeah, that's the thing about you. You get touched easily." Percy said. "You would watch the sunset and let out tears in fascination."

"Oh, how about you then?" Artemis said, clearly not crying anymore. "You always have a thing for blue food."

"So?"

"Who asks for a blue Pepsi?"

They both then start to list out all the weird and quirky things that both of them knew about each other. It made them laugh out loud, thinking about all the things that they knew about the other person.

What started out as minutes of conversation turned into hours. Percy didn't notice the time fly by because talking to Artemis had that effect on you. You could be talking to her for just five minutes and you look at your watch it's been an hour.

This was the only way for him to express his feeling on how much he missed her.

Maybe . . . Just maybe . . . If they were close like they used to . . .

"Well," Artemis said after what felt like hours. "Thanks for staying up with me."

"I didn't. You woke me up."

Artemis chuckled. "Still, thank you." Artemis said. "And thanks for making me laugh. It's been a while since I've had fun like this."

"Yeah, that's the thing I don't get with captains. Why are you guys so . . . stiff?"

Artemis laughed. "Goodnight, Percy."

* * *

 **A/N: I know it's a bit short. But this is as much as you'll get before I finally decide on the pairing. I'm gonna give you guys some time to voice out your opinions and vote in the poll on what you think the pairing should be. Will it be Percabeth? Will it be Pertemis? Or do you simply just don't give a fuck? Vote now! Last chance! After this, no more voting and the result will be final.**

 **On a side note, for someone who doesn't really understand about the class system, please review the author's note above to make sure you didn't miss anything.**

 **Oh. Big fight coming soon in the next chapter. Stay tuned!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: And it is done. You guys kept it close. Honestly, I really didn't think it would be this close. But, what's happened has happened. The pairing has just been decided with a difference of only _one_ vote. Can you believe that? It was 42-41 to the winning pair. Tough luck for the losers. This is going to be painful for them.**

 **I'm the stranger: Both? That's just greedy.**

 **Quihi: Yeah this chapter was just mainly about fluff to get into all the shippers out there.**

 **Zayden StormVoid: Just gotta wait and see!**

 **shadowmere388: My bad. That was supposed to be an imgur link but it got messed up. Just put the imgur . com with that code to view it.**

 **Ilovedragons2014: It's just in Percy's perspective. It's like us saying 'that thing is expensive'. Percy just thought it was rare.**

 **Psp500: Again, you guys are greedy.**

 **Kenneth: Thanks!**

 **PraetorFable: Cheers, man.**

 **Hj0cs: Honestly wtf.**

 **Let's continue!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

Percy woke up to the sound of his AR Glasses ringing. He looked at the clock to see it's still five in the morning. Then sun was barely up and he was still sleepy.

He groaned as he lazily picked his Glasses up and put them on. It was Nico who was calling him. He answered the call. "Hello?" He said, still half asleep.

"How are you still asleep?" Nico asked.

"How are you awake so early?" Percy grumbled at Nico, clearly annoyed that his sleep has been disturbed.

"Touché," Nico said. "Well, get up. You're gonna be my sparring partner."

Percy groaned out loud. "Ask your team to do it." He said lazily.

"Dude, help me help you." Nico said. "We're both going to the Rookie Showcase. I'm trying to help you get recruited and you can help me by being my sparring partner."

Percy thought about it for a minute. He wanted to be recruited and be stronger. Plus, he needed to get stronger in order to face Luke at the Rookie Showcase.

But sleep just sounds so go right now.

Percy sat up. "Give me five minutes."

 **Line Break**

Percy met Nico near the local skate park. It was still dawn, so no one was around. Nico grinned when he saw Percy while Percy just yawned.

"Isn't it too early to be doing this?" Percy grumbled.

"Maybe," Nico shrugged. "Just get ready, will you?"

Percy nodded. He pulled out his inventory and equipped the best items he currently has that works with his class. The Bull's ring, from his time with Jason, was at his right ring finger. Around his neck was a cord of string and with it hung the Hydra's Fang. It was his share of the drop from the Hydra raid. His attacks are now imbued with acid, making it strong against heavy armour, which was nice.

Aside from that, he had replaced his previous black coat with a better one that provided better stats and also increased his speed. Percy's swords hasn't changed. He got used to it.

Nico whistled. "A new getup, I see," Nico said.

"Went shopping yesterday at the Plaza,"

"So I've heard," Nico wiggled his eyebrows. "Did you have fun with Annabeth?"

Percy threw his hands up in exasperation. "How are you always doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"You always seem to know what I'm up to," Percy squinted his eyes at Nico. "Are you stalking me?"

Nico snickered. "Believe me, I wouldn't dare waste my time on such useless chore," He said with a grin. "Now, are you riled up?"

Percy nodded. Nico shifted into his battle attire, which Percy had never seen before.

Nico wore a black hooded robe that seems to be made out of black smoke. In his right hand, he held a staff that looked like it was made out of a dying tree. On top of the staff was a skull illuminated by a purple light.

If anything, Nico looked like a villain.

"What do you think?" Nico asked. "Pretty neat, huh?"

"I'm guessing you're a Necromancer." Percy said.

Necromancers are one of the most difficult class to use. Their skill sets offers them tons of ways to defeat their opponents. They can drain an enemy's HP to restore their own, they can summon the dead to do their bidding, they can curse an enemy with a variety of status effects, etcetera. While they do have a very low HP, they can refill it instantly by draining the HP of an enemy, so they can self heal. Necromancers are one of the few classes that can defeat a World Boss single-handedly, if they're good enough.

"It's a fun class to play," Nico said. He then sent Percy an invitation.

* * *

 _Nico has invited you to a duel. Do you accept?_

 _Yes No_

* * *

Percy accepted. "So, normal rules?" He asked.

Nico nodded. They were about to go for it when someone arrived. "What are you guys doing?"

Percy and Nico turned towards the voice. It was Artemis, which was a surprise. She was wearing a full set of silver sweatshirt and pants. The words, 'For the Hunt!' was embroidered across the shirt's chest area.

"Um, practicing?" Percy answered it like a question.

"Yeah. Percy and I was just about to spar." Nico said.

"Who spars at five in the morning?" Artemis asked in confusion. Percy and Nico pointed at each other. Artemis chuckled. "Well, mind if I join you guys?"

"You sure?"

"Yeah, this'll be a great morning exercise for me." Artemis said as she put her Glasses on.

"You don't expect us two to go against you, right?" Nico asked. "That seems unfair."

"Of course that's unfair." Artemis said. "We're gonna have a one-on-one-on-one." Nico and Percy both stared at her. "What?"

"You can do that? A three way match?"

Artemis nodded as she switched to her combat attire. She now wore a sleeveless silver dress that flowed all the way down to her thighs. Alongside her combat jeans and boots, a silver tiara was evident on her head. She had a silver bow in her hand and a quiver of arrows slung across her back. Percy had never known you could look elegant in combat, but Artemis pulled it off.

She then did some things in her UI and a notification popped up in Percy's display.

* * *

 _Artemis, Nico, has invited you to a duel. Do you accept?_

 _Yes No_

* * *

Percy accepted. Nico did so as well while Artemis grinned.

He wasn't too sure about his chances facing against a pro player and the number two rookie in the world. But at least this would be a good training session for him.

"Let's do it this way." Nico said. "Last man – or woman – standing wins."

"How does that work?" Percy asked.

"You need to knock both opponents on the floor. If you're the only standing at that point, then you win." Nico said. "How bout it?"

"Sounds interesting." Artemis said. "Let's do it." Percy nodded as well. The countdown starts in their display. "Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're rookies."

"Never crossed my mind," Nico grinned.

3 . . .

2 . . .

1 . . .

Artemis moved first as she notched two arrows at once and fired one at Percy and one at Nico. Percy leaned to the right to dodge it before going straight at Artemis. Before he could even get two steps in, something grabbed his ankle and made him trip.

Percy looked at his leg to see a skeleton coming out of a green swirling portal, grabbing at his ankle while grinning. Percy kicked it and sent its head flying away as the green portal close.

Meanwhile, Artemis was busy firing a barrage of arrows at Nico, in which he blocked by conjuring a purple barrier between them. Percy saw his chance and tackled Nico to the ground, disrupting his barrier. He swiftly moved over to Artemis who didn't faze. She dropped her bow and took out two hunting knives. Percy took only one of his sword out before the two clashed, blade against blade.

Percy made a cleaving attack at Artemis in full force. Since Artemis wasn't holding back, Percy wasn't going to as well. Artemis blocked the strike with both of her blades, but she grunted under the force. Had Percy always been this strong? She pushed Percy away and returned with a strike of her own, slicing an 'X' with her blades. Percy quickly stepped back and feigned a thrust with his sword before spinning to the right, his sword aimed at her head.

Artemis had a quick reflex as she ducked under the swing and kicked Percy square on the chest. Percy staggered backwards before tripping, thanks to Nico who'd already recovered and conjured up a python that wrapped around Percy's legs.

He then turned his attention towards Artemis who narrowly dodges a beam of light that Nico sent. Artemis rolled away from another beam of light before picking up her bow which she'd dropped earlier.

Percy found himself unable to move as the python had a firm grip around Percy's legs. He could see the purple head of the python just baring its fangs at Percy. In one sweep movement, it sank its teeth into Percy's calf.

Of course, since it's a game, none of it was real. But the pain felt like it really did happen. Percy screamed in agony as his leg went numb. Then, he could feel the blood almost crawl through his veins as a wave of unfamiliar feeling washed over him, enveloping his entire body.

Percy looked above his health bar, and sure enough, he knew it.

Paralysis.

Percy could still hear and see everything that's going on, but he couldn't move an inch. He could hear Artemis and Nico fighting just out of his vision. From the sound of it, Artemis seems to be struggling.

The fight then continued back into his vision. Artemis was dodging beams of light left and right, making sure she wasn't getting hit. The downside of it is that she couldn't attack Nico back since he was attacking at a rapid rate.

Percy saw Artemis drop something onto the floor without Nico noticing. It was too small to make out what it was, but it didn't matter as Nico continued his barrage of attacks.

Percy looked at both of their health and mana bars. Artemis's health and mana were critically low while Nico's health bar was almost full, but his mana was running out.

"Just give up," Nico taunted. Artemis grinned as she gestured Nico to get her. Nico snarled as he ran forward, trying to end this fight.

Apparently, that all had been in Artemis's plan. Nico stepped at where Artemis had dropped the mysterious thing. It sprung into a net that enveloped Nico, trapping him like an animal.

"What the –" Nico only managed before being pinned down to the floor. The net had weights attached to it, making it impossible to lift.

"I think I win," Artemis grinned.

The notice popped up that Artemis had won. Nico grunted as the net disappeared and he was freed. "That was a nice move."

Percy wanted to congratulate her as well, but there was only one problem.

The Paralysis status effect was still on him.

Artemis went towards Percy. "You've gotten better, you know?" Artemis said with a smile. Percy tried talking, but his lips won't move. Only his eyeballs did as he looked at Artemis pleadingly. "Percy? Is everything okay?"

"The match's over," Nico said. "You can stop playing dead now," He said while grinning.

"How long is the Paralysis effect that your python deals?" Artemis asked.

Nico frowned. "What python?"

A chill went through Percy's spine. Something was not right. If Nico hadn't sent that python, who did?

"I told you to stop playing," A voice said behind Percy. Nico and Artemis had the look of shock on their faces as they looked at someone behind Percy. "You should've stopped when I told you."

That voice. It was the same voice that had called Percy last night. The same distorted voice that had warned him to stop playing Olympia.

"Who are you?" Artemis kept a steely glare on the person, whom Percy still couldn't see. "What do you want with us?"

The voiced laughed a horrible laugh. "With you? Nothing." The voice said. "But with him," The voice stepped on Percy's back. Percy felt like he's lifting the weight of the sky because the guy was heavy. "I do want something from Perseus Jackson."

By now, Percy was unsure whether this person was just a programme from Olympia or if he was a real threat on Percy's life. Even though he was paralysed from head to toe, he could still feel the heavy pain on his back. He wanted to scream in agony, but his voice wouldn't work.

"Let him go," Nico said. "Or we'll call the police."

The voice laughed again. "What can they do? This game is my domain. With this, I will rule over the world!" He then gripped Percy by the hair. "And you will be the key to my success!" For the first time, Percy got a good look on what he looked like.

He wore a mask that resembled the 'Anonymous' face under a black hood. His body flickered, as if it was trying to decide whether to exist in this world or not. He was way taller than Percy and was way more muscular as well. If he wanted to snap Percy in half, Percy doubted he would have much trouble doing so.

Percy felt like he was staring death straight in the face. But then, something saved him.

"NOW!" A female voice shouted. Percy saw a grenade flew across the air and landed on the floor next to him. He made the instinctive decision to look away as the flashbang went off, blinding everyone. Percy could hear Artemis and Nico yelp and the sound of footsteps running towards and away from him.

Then he felt someone grab him and put him on their shoulder like a rag doll before running away. After that, everything became dark.

 **Line Break**

He didn't know how many hours had passed since he passed out. But when he did wake up, his joints felt stiff. His bones made unpleasant cracking sounds as he moved around.

Percy then felt something on his lap. He found Artemis was sleeping soundly, her auburn hair was sprawled all over his leg. He smiled as he brushed his hand over her hair.

It woke her up. "Percy," She muttered sleepily. "You're awake."

"Yeah." He said, finally taking a deep breath and exhaling. "Where are we?" Percy looked around to see that they were in some place that Percy didn't recognize.

Medicine racks lined up the wall. Percy noticed that his bed was one of the other dozen identical bunk bed in the room. An IV pole accompanied each bed.

They were in an infirmary.

"We're in the Rebellion's HQ." Artemis said.

"What? What are we doing here?" Percy asked. "Where's Nico?"

"He went to get Beckendorf and the others. He'll be back in a few –" The infirmary door swung open as Nico entered with a grin on his face.

"Glad to see you're awake." He said. Beckendorf was behind him along with Piper. "This is Beckendorf, if you haven't lost your memories yet.

"Yeah," Percy nodded. "And Piper."

Piper nodded. "Good thing we arrived in time," She said. "Things could've gone worse for you two."

"For us two?" Percy asked. "What about Nico?"

"We sent him there to track down the Hacker." Beckendorf then glared at Nico. "Which he was supposed to do _alone."_

Nico held his hands up. "In my defence, I needed the help. Plus, we were planning to bring Percy into this anyway. And with Artemis here, we'll have a much better chance."

"Wait just a minute," Artemis said. "Bring us into what?"

Beckendorf sighed. He turned towards Piper and Nico. "I'll explain to them. You guys wait outside." Piper and Nico nodded before heading out. He took pulled up a chair and took a seat.

"You're not really a professional Olympia team, are you?" Percy asked.

Beckendorf smiled. "Piper was right. You catch on pretty quick." He leaned forward. "The Rebellion is a team of players who's sole mission is one thing, protect Olympia."

"Why would we need a team like that?" Artemis asked. "Olympia has never been in any danger since it's release."

"That's because we kept it that way." Beckendorf said. "Olympia has been under attack more times than I care to count. People always try new ways take advantage over the system."

"What system?" Percy asked.

Beckendorf held out his AR Glasses. "You know what this is, right?"

Artemis and Percy nodded. "Augmented Reality Glasses. They make it possible for us to play Olympia." Artemis explained.

"You know that they're manufactured by the same people who made Olympia, right?" Beckendorf said. Artemis nodded while Percy just shrugged.

"Where are you going with this?" Percy asked.

"Have you ever wondered, why you feel pain while playing Olympia?" Beckendorf asked. "Olympia just changes your vision, makes things look like they're there but they're actually not. So why do you feel pain or even move whenever you get hit? There's nothing there."

Percy had never thought about it, but he had a good point. AR just makes it look like they're there, but they're not actually there. For example, when he and Jason fought the Minotaur, he got sent flying away by the monster. If it's just pain, then he could maybe sort of understand. But to be sent flying away, only by being hit by the real thing could do that to him.

Percy glanced over to Artemis to see that she was racking her brain, trying to see if she could explain this in some sort of way. Percy gestured Beckendorf to continue.

"These Glasses are implemented with a very complex device," Beckendorf explained. "When certain parts of your body gets hit by something in the game, they send an electrical signal to your brain that triggers your pain receptors, so that it would make it so the pain felt real. Same thing applies for when you're being moved forcefully. It sends an electrical signal that triggers the brain's receptors, making you think you get hit, but you actually didn't."

"But that's how Olympia is supposed to function." Artemis said. "That's one of their gameplay features."

"Which is why people are going after Olympia." Beckendorf said. "Whoever controls Olympia, controls all of the game's features. That means they have access to the brain's sensors, which means they can trigger whatever they want through a player's brain."

"Which means they can control the world." Percy finished. Beckendorf nodded. "So? Just shut the game down."

"It's not that easy," Beckendorf said. "You can't just stop people from playing Olympia. Olympia has changed the way society lives. It now becomes a part of us. These AR Glasses as well. They have become something that's vital to our current state. Imagine if we suddenly shut down Olympia and AR Glasses. Imagine the economic damage that would happen to the world. We'll go back to ages of the Great Depression but this time, on a global scale."

"Can't we just shut the game down without making the AR Glasses useless?" Artemis asked

Beckendorf shook his head. "Olympia and the Glasses are one of the same. They can't exist without each other. The AR Glasses runs Olympia as its operating system. If Olympia goes down, then they may just be regular Glasses."

Percy and Artemis was in disbelief. This was the world they'd been living in? Artemis laced her fingers with Percy's trying to find comfort. She was shaking. Percy gripped her hand tightly to comfort her.

"How does this concern me and Artemis?" Percy asked.

"Actually, this only concerns you." Beckendorf pointed at Percy. "Remember the guy you met earlier? The masked guy?" Percy nodded. "We call him the Hacker. Currently, he's on the top of our 'Most Wanted' list."

"Again, how does this concern me?" Percy asked. His hands were trembling. Artemis noticed this as she gripped Percy's hand firmly.

"We don't know. According to him, you're the key to his success. He's been targeting you for a very long time. That morning had been the closest we've ever gotten to catching him." Beckendorf admitted. "But you had to come first. If he gets his hands on you, who knows what he'll do."

Percy breathed in deeply. He knew why the Hacker was going for him. He'd knew why he was being targeted. Artemis looked at Percy. "Percy? What's wrong?"

Before Percy could answer, Nico came into the room. "Um, Mr. Don is here."

"Bring him in," Beckendorf said.

"Wait, Mr. Don?" Artemis asked. "As in, the creator of Olympia and the Glasses?"

Beckendorf grinned. "He's the lead director of the Rebellion." He explained. Then, Mr. Don stepped into the room. He was tall and handsome. He gave out an aura that tells everyone that he had the highest power of authority. He had black hair, a neatly trimmed black beard and a deep tan that could only come from being in the sun for too long.

"Mr. Don," Beckendorf said politely. "This is Artemis and this is Percy."

Artemis shook Mr. Don's hand nervously. She'd never thought in her lifetime that she'll be able to meet the creator of Olympia. She then turned around to see Percy.

He was glaring at Mr. Don. An angry look flashed across his face. Mr. Don just stared at Percy calmly.

"Percy," Mr. Don said.

"Dad," Percy replied.

 **A/N: BOOOOOOMMM!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Your reactions are the best. Oh, and just in case you didn't get it. The pairing is Pertemis.**

 **: Yes … I … Know…**

 **Quihi: Well, keep reading and you'll know why.**

 **Kenneth: *wiggle eyebrows.**

 **Ilovedragons2014: Thanks!**

 **Zayden StormVoid: So glad you got that bit about the whole Mr. Don thing. And yeah, I try to answer a lot of the things that you people have been wondering about that doesn't really make sense in the story. Oh, and for your final point, careful what you wish for ;)**

 **Onwards!**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

Things were awkward in that infirmary. Artemis and Beckendorf was just looking at Percy who was glaring at Mr. Don, who's his father.

"How are you doing, Percy?" Mr. Don asked.

Percy scowled. "Why do you care?"

Mr. Don has a pained expression on his face. "Son, you need to understand that –"

"Dont. Call. Me. SON!" Percy yelled in anger. Artemis paled a bit. She'd never seen Percy this angry. Percy's knuckles were turning white from him balling his fists too hard.

Nico and Piper came into the room. They were about to say something when they noticed the situation. "Um, did we miss something?" Piper asked.

"I think it's better if we wait outside." Mr. Don said. "Give him some time."

Beckendorf agrees as he gestured everyone to exit the room. "Let me talk to him," Artemis said. Beckendorf studied her face for a second before nodding and exiting the room.

Percy collapsed onto the floor. He was trembling, but it was hard to tell whether it's from anger or fear. Artemis sat on the floor in front of him. She looked at him with concern.

They sat in silence for the next minute before Percy finally spoke. "When I was born, my mom died." Percy explained. Artemis looked at Percy to see he was holding back his tears. She'd never heard this story before from Percy. Artemis doubted that anyone had heard this before, including Hestia – one of the other woman that Percy trusts.

"Sorry to hear that," Artemis said simply.

"I grew up at the Orphanage." Percy explained. "Hestia took care of me. She taught me everything I know." Percy smiled at the memory briefly before his expression turned serious. "Then, a man came to visit."

Artemis had a feeling on who it was. "Your father?"

Percy nodded. "His real name is Poseidon," Percy said. "He told me that I was his son and he wanted to bring me home. He said he has something big coming up and he wants me to help him. I refused."

"Why?"

"Because, I knew nothing of him." Percy growled. "He didn't raise me. He didn't take care of my mother. He didn't even know my name."

"But he wanted to bring you home,"

"So his company would have a successor." Percy said distastefully. "He's the reason why I had never touched Olympia. When I think of him, I just feel nothing but hatred."

Artemis felt bad for Percy. She never knew he had such a rough start to his life. The Percy Artemis knew was always happy and do dorky things. When Artemis looked at Percy, he was sobbing.

"Sorry," Percy managed. "You shouldn't see me like this."

Of course she shouldn't. From all the time Artemis knew Percy, he'd been nothing but sweet, funny, and dorky. Now, he just looks . . . sad.

Instead of saying anything. Artemis moved and sat next to Percy. "Percy, I want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"After, um . . . I left." Artemis started. "Did you miss me?"

Percy stared into the wall as his mind wandered off to the past two years. He really missed her. That's why he's been keeping tabs with her progress in the pro scene, which wasn't hard since Olympia was in every media outlet out there. Artemis had been one of the person he have ever loved truly. Letting her go had been the hardest thing he ever had to do.

"Yes." Percy said. "Every day."

Percy could almost feel her crying. He knew she felt guilty about leaving him. They had that special connection with each other they've never had with anyone else. Losing that connection has been devastating for both of them.

"But," Percy added. Artemis caught her breath, waiting for him to continue. "If I ever got the chance to go back in time, I wouldn't have it any other way." He faced towards Artemis and lightly grabbed her chin with two fingers. "Because if I do things differently, then I wouldn't have met you."

To his surprise, Artemis chuckled. "That was so cheesy."

Percy laughed, which was good to hear. "I'm all for cheesy."

Artemis ran her fingers through his hair, like she always does when they'd been dating. "Dork." Percy's face and Artemis's were literally just inches away. If Percy moved forward just a bit, their lips would be touching.

Percy was staring into her eyes as Artemis was staring into his. There was a slight tug in Percy's stomach, pulling him towards her.

"Guys!" Nico barged into the room. Percy and Artemis immediately moved away from each other and turned towards Nico. "We have a situation."

"Yeap," Percy said, trying to hide his blaring red face. "Be there in a sec." He stood up and offered his hand to Artemis who wasn't meeting his eyes. She took his hand as Percy helped her stand up.

"We should get ready." Artemis said absently as she rushed outside.

Percy took his AR Glasses and typed an email to Nico.

* * *

 _From: Percy_

 _To: Nico_

 _Fuck you_

* * *

 _From: Nico_

 _To: Percy_

 _Sorry bout that but honestly, you took too long._

* * *

Percy went outside and finally see Rebellion's HQ for the first time. It was . . . smaller than what Percy had in mind.

The walls were coloured white, adorned with banners that had the Rebellion logo – a sword going through a skull – embroidered on it. Percy had just exited a room on the right side of the wall from the main entrance. In the middle of the lobby was a grand staircase that went up for a few steps before it splits off into two, going left and right. Both of which Percy didn't know lead where.

Beckendorf smiled at Percy as he walked over towards him, his shoes making the wooden floor creak. "Hey," Beckendorf said. "So, you're good?"

Percy nodded. "Where's . . . Mr. Don?" Percy thought about calling him dad, but he decided against it.

"He has something to take care of." Beckendorf said. "And he asked me to give you this." Beckendorf handed him a small black box. "He says you'll know when to open it."

Percy didn't open it, neither did he intended to. He just stuffed it in his pocket. "So, what's the situation?"

"It's the Hacker," Piper gestured them to follow her. They followed her up the stair case and went up towards the right one. Along the upper hallway, there were three wooden doors. Percy looked across to see the same set of doors as well on the other side. Piper led them to the end of the hallway and went into the very last door. "He'd just made a public announcement."

The room they entered was like a meeting room. A huge round table sat in the middle of the room surrounded by chairs. "Have a seat," Beckendorf said. The middle of the table was empty, so it looked more like a donut. "Put on your Glasses, please."

Percy and Artemis put theirs on. Artemis still wouldn't meet Percy's eyes, which was something that Percy was worried about.

When Percy put on his Glasses, the middle of the table lit up, showing a holographic display of the Hacker's announcement.

* * *

 _Do you feel safe? Do you feel protected inside your precious little bubble? You. Are. Wrong. I will have control over this precious game of yours. When I am in full control, believe me. Everyone will bow down to me. Everyone who go against me will feel my wrath. Starting with you, Poseidon._

 _And to all the 'pro players' who even think about stopping me. You can come and try. I will make you feel pain like you have not felt before. I will make you suffer greatly that you could only wish for death. Try and stop me. We'll see how that ends up for everyone._

 _For those seeking salvation, here's my offer. Percy Jackson. Bring him to me, and you will be spared. Bring him to me, and I will reward you._

 _BRING HIM TO ME!_

* * *

The video ends. Everyone in the room was staring at Percy worriedly.

To be honest, Percy wasn't afraid. He wasn't scared.

He was angry.

This person, for some reason, wanted to control the world. And he needed Percy to do it. He probably needed him to get to his father. Percy didn't care about his dad. He didn't care about Olympia and he certainly didn't care about this guy called the 'Hacker'. He hated people like him. So he's going to confront him.

"If he wants me so bad," Percy growled. "He's going to get me. I'm going to go to him."

"Percy, don't." Piper said. "That's just what he wants."

"Great. This'll be easy then."

"Are you crazy?" Nico asked. "What are you going to do _assuming_ we let you go to him?"

"I'm going to kill him."

Nico rolled his eyes. "We barely survived our last encounter with him! If it hadn't been for Piper and Beckendorf, we wouldn't be in this room right now!" Nico was getting frustrated by Percy's selfish act.

"Nico's right," Beckendorf said. "Going against him alone is suicide. We don't know what he's capable of. We have no info on him."

"I don't care." Percy growled. "I'm still going after him."

"Percy, we need to think this through." Piper said, trying to convince him.

Percy glared at them. "This is my choice. This has nothing to do with you."

Nico stood up as he smacked the table. "This has everything to do with us!" Nico said. "You're one of us! Did you think we're just going to let you go and kill yourself? Are you really that selfish?!"

Percy stood up angrily, his fists were balled up. "So what? Are we just supposed to let him do anything he wants? He can mass murder thousands of people at once. How is my life worth any more than theirs?"

"Percy, we can still think this out." Piper tried to reason with him. "We can still get him."

"There's no time for that!" Percy argued. "Look, if you're all too afraid to do this, then sit down and let me –" Percy never finished his sentence as he felt a very painful sting on his left cheek. Artemis had slapped him.

Percy looked at Artemis to see tears streaming down her cheeks. She glared at Percy as she sobbed. "Did you really think that no one was going to stop from you from doing this? Did you think that by killing yourself and surrendering to this . . . _maniac_ , everyone can go around and be happy?"

"Artemis, I –"

"Are you really that selfish?" Artemis sobbed. "Don't you care about everyone in your life? Hestia? Thalia?" Her voice was trembling. "Don't you care about me? About what I think?"

Percy stayed silent. He had been so blinded by anger that everything just evaporated from his head. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how he must've sounded like to his friends, and how much of an idiot it made him look like.

Artemis wiped her tears. "I'm not going to let you kill yourself." She said, her voice returning to normal but still angry.

Percy just nodded as everyone sat back on their chairs. Nico was still glaring at Percy, but he softened up just a bit. Beckendorf cleared his throat. "Well, now that that's settled. Let's start with a plan. Piper?"

Piper seemed to snap back into reality. "Oh, right." She starts to explain. "Well, from what we know, the Hacker is going to target the Rookie Showcase."

"The showcase?" Artemis asked. "Why?"

"Maybe because it's one of the biggest events of the season." Nico supplied. "Almost everyone who plays Olympia is going to be watching that showcase. It would make sense to target that event to make a statement that would scare the public."

"Perhaps," Beckendorf said. "We have no clue on why he's going for that event, so we're just speculating."

"How did you know he's targetting the Rookie Showcase?" Percy asked, his throat felt a little dry.

"The Hacker has called several people, threatening to kill them using AR Glasses. All of the people he's contacted are rookies who are in the showcase."

"Threatening? Are you sure?"

"Positive." Beckendorf said. "What's wrong?"

Percy's mind went into a halt. "Do they sound like distorted voices?"

"Yeah. Sometimes they would get emails. All of them are untraceable and come from a blank ID or email address." Beckendorf explained.

Percy recounted the three times he'd that same incident. One, was when someone called him and there was nothing on the other end. Just static.

The second one was when he'd received an email from a blank sender. It had warned him to stay out of the Rookie Showcase.

The third had been before Artemis called him that late night. It had warned him to stop playing Olympia.

"Percy?" Piper asked. "You look like you've got something on your mind."

"We need to stop the showcase." Percy said. "He's going to blow it up and he's going to use the AR Glasses to do so." Percy was certain about it.

"Are you sure?" Beckendorf asked.

Percy nodded. "The Hacker has contacted me three times. Two of those times he had warned me to stay out of the showcase and to stop playing Olympia." Percy said.

"Your point being?" Nico asked in a slightly annoyed tone, but Percy let it slide.

"Like the Hacker said, I am the key to his success." Percy explained. "He needs me alive. That's why he warns me to not go to the Rookie Showcase. You said it yourself, he's targetting that event."

Beckendorf nodded, the pieces starting to fall in. "And since he warns you to stop playing Olympia, that means he's going through there." Beckendorf said with a grin. "Nice work."

"Yeah, but that still leaves us with a dead end." Piper said. "How are we meant to stop him from doing whatever he wants to do?"

Percy grinned. "Simple." Percy said. "He wants me alive. He wants to probably kill everyone in the Rookie Showcase. The only way to stop that from happening . . ." Percy gestured Piper to continue.

"Is to make sure you enter that showcase." Piper said. Percy nodded. "You're forgetting a minor detail here. The Hacker has just issued practically a bounty on your head. Everyone is going to be looking for you. We can't just waltz into the showcase and not expect people to just leave you be."

"Which is why," Percy grinned. "I'm calling for backup."

 **Line Break**

The Rebellion HQ has a garden for a rooftop. Percy figured if Artemis is going to be anywhere, it's going to be here. He went upstairs and sure enough, she was there.

Once again, Percy could never understand how she can look so beautiful under the midnight sky. The moon seems to want to just shine on her alone, giving her the spotlight.

"Hey," Percy said. Artemis didn't answer. She was sitting on one of the lounging chairs that was there. The floor was actual grass. Various batches of flowers were scattered around like roses, hibiscuses, daffodils, a weird type of flower that looked like a mixture of sunflower and a lily. There were other types as well, but he didn't know what they were called.

Percy took his seat next to Artemis. She was staring into the sky. Her face had always seem to glow under the moonlight. "Hey," Percy called again. And again, Artemis didn't respond. Percy sighed. "Artemis, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I was being so selfish, I'm sorry that I didn't think about how you were feeling, I'm sorry that I –"

Artemis put a finger on his lips. Artemis looked at him sadly. "I'm not mad at you, Percy. I'm just . . . afraid." Percy waited for her to continue. "When you said that you were going to him, it hit me. This was karma. I was going to feel the same way you did when I left you. Only I'm going to get it a hundred times worse."

Tears were welling up in Artemis's eyes. "I remember that feeling, Percy. That feeling of emptiness when you're not around." Artemis shook her head. "I just didn't want to experience it again. You call yourself selfish. In reality, I was the one being selfish for not letting you go."

Percy moved over towards Artemis's chair and sat next to her. "Come on, you can't blame yourself like that."

Artemis sobbed into his chest. "Please don't leave, Percy." Artemis said. "I . . . I love you."

Percy's heart felt like it had left his chest. His brain went haywired. He cupped Artemis's cheek in his hand. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to say that again."

This time, no interruptions. No one was going to barge in on them. Percy slowly leaned forward and felt Artemis's lips against his. There was nothing in his head except for pure bliss. The moon seemed to shine brighter in approval of their relationship. Artemis hugged him and pulled him into an even deeper kiss. They kissed for what seemed like forever before pulling away. Percy leaned his forehead against hers as he smiled. Artemis smiled as well.

"Never leave me again?" Percy asked.

Artemis chuckled. "Never again."

Then, someone cleared their throat behind Percy and Artemis. "It seems you two lovebirds are doing fine." Percy recognized that voice immediately.

"What took you so long?" Percy asked.

Thalia shrugged. "Took me a while to get Jason off my back." Thalia said. "So, you guys back together now?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

Percy grinned while Artemis just blushed.

"Well, about time." Thalia said. "Now, who's butt do we need to kick?"

 **A/N: I know, I know. Short chapter. But hey, I explained a lot didn't I?**

 **Oh, wait until you see the next one.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Don't worry, I'm not dead. Sorry for being slow on the updating now. I've just enrolled into university and yeah. I'll still be updating, just not as fast anymore. Don't worry, I won't be gone.**

 **Thomasjwood: If it was only that simple :D**

 **Zayden StormVoid: Your reviews are always fun to read. Thanks!**

 **DeltaWin13: If it was only that simple.**

 **Theunwillingtraveler: Thanks!**

 **Grey Fox Ninja: Of course there would be chapters like that. A perfect relationship is no fun without a sprinkle of drama.**

 **Kenneth: Maybe.**

 **Kromp the Ronin: Thanks man!**

 **Reallyinfinity: Pretty much everything.**

 **Shall we continue?**

 **It's gonna be an intense chapter**

* * *

 **Oh, and, um, PSA warning. I suggest you be careful reading this chapter because it's slightly . . . disturbing. Reader's discretion is advised.**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

Percy woke up to a sprawled auburn hair on his chest. He and Artemis had fallen asleep in one of the guest rooms that the Rebellion had provided them with. He smiled at Artemis who was soundly asleep on his chest. Percy moved carefully as he moved Artemis without waking her up.

He went outside of the room to see Nico and Piper arguing at the lobby. "–no idea what he's like." Piper said as Percy went closer towards them. "Even if that _was_ the right location, how do you know it's not an ambush? Or a fake location? Or a setup to get you framed?

"I'm telling you, this is our only chance." Nico argued. "We haven't had a solid lead like this. Plus, Silena tracked him down. Name one person who is better at this stuff other than Silena."

Piper was silent for a while before Percy cleared his throat. "Morning,"

"Morning," Piper smiled. "Aren't you up early?" Percy noticed that Nico was glaring at him.

"I'm gonna have breakfast," Nico grumbled. "See you later." Then he walked away towards the cafeteria.

Piper sighed. "Sorry about that. He's just . . ."

"Mad at me." Percy finished. "Look, sorry about last night. I was being kind of a huge dick." Percy said at Piper, but she just smiled.

"I understand. Beckendorf as well." Piper said.

He just smiled gratefully. "So, what were you guys talking about?"

Piper scratched the back of her head. "Silena, our tech gal, has discovered what can possibly be the Hacker's true location."

"Then, what are we waiting for? We should go there now."

"Believe me, I would love to." Piper muttered. "But it's too dangerous. We don't know if it's a setup. We don't know if we'll get ambushed. We don't even know if the location's real."

"Can't we just bait him out?" Percy said. "Offer me as bait and when he gets here, catch him."

"There's no way."

Percy gritted his teeth. "You can't stop me from doing this."

"No, I mean, there's no way to actually catch him if he arrives there." Piper explained.

"What do you mean?"

"There's a reason why we call him 'the Hacker'." She said. "He hacks into the AR Glasses to make sure he projects himself into your vision, the same way a World Boss will be projected by Olympia. In other words, he can hurt you through the game and what not, but you can't hurt him. When you saw him back at the skate park, that was Olympia projecting him through your Glasses. He's not really there."

Percy was in disbelief. This was the adversary that they were dealing with? "There must be some way to get to him."

"If we can get through to how he's projecting himself, we may be able to track down where he is."

"So, how did Silena managed to track him down in the first place?"

"She reused the footage from your encounter with him and tried to track it back to it's original source." Piper said. "But the source always switched places. The one time the source stopped moving entirely was just now."

"So, are we going to go after it?"

"We? Maybe. You? No."

"Why?"

"You need to be in the showcase," Piper said. "Which happens to be tomorrow."

"But I want to help,"

"You can help," A voice said behind Percy from up the stairs. "By going to the showcase." Percy turned around and who he saw made his blood boil.

"Dad," Percy said mockingly.

"Mr. Don." Piper said as she bowed in respect.

Poseidon just nodded at Piper. "Can you leave us alone for a minute?"

"S-Sure," Piper said as she hurriedly left the area.

Percy and Poseidon had a stare competition for a minute before Poseidon broke the silence. "How've you been doing?"

"How do you think?" Percy growled. "I spent all my life without a mother or a father. And when I finally meet one of them," He glared at Poseidon. "He turns out to be you."

"And you are unhappy of that?" Poseidon said with a slightly confused tone.

Percy balled his fists. "Why did you leave me?" Percy asked. "Just tell me that."

"I've never left you." Poseidon said. "Believe it or not, I've been watching you since you were born." He took out a picture from his coat pocket and showed it to Percy. Turns out it was a picture of Percy when he was just a baby. "Your mother didn't tell me she was pregnant with you until –" Poseidon took a deep breath. "Until I found out she died giving birth to you."

Percy felt the tears welling up in his eyes. "And when you finally found out about me, you just wanted to _take_ me away? From my life? From everything I've ever known about?"

Poseidon looked at Percy sadly. "I wanted to take you away for the same reason you hate me. It's so you don't have to live on the streets with those peasants."

Anger boiled inside Percy. " _Peasant_? For your information, these _peasants_ took care of him. These people you call _peasants_ took care of me so I could be here today. These _peasants_ are my family." Percy said angrily. "Which is something that you will never be part of."

Poseidon sighed. "I am merely telling you the truth. I do care for you."

"Well then here's the truth," Percy spat out. "You are not my father. I don't have one." He said before storming upstairs. Before he left, Poseidon called him.

"Percy," Poseidon said. "You still have that box I gave you?" Percy stayed silent. "When the times come. Open it. You'll know when."

Percy just stayed in silent, but he was angry at him still. Poseidon just sighed as he went towards the building exit. "Stay safe, Percy. Try not to die." He said before exiting.

Percy took a deep breath before he collapsed to the ground. Being angry was tiring as his legs were trembling. The built up emotions inside him was starting to mix up. He didn't even realize his muscles were tensed until he sat down. His body felt sore everywhere. He felt like crying. All the shitty things in his life that had happened. He felt miserable when he looked back on all of it.

"Percy?" He heard familiar voice called. He looked up the stairs to see Artemis, still half-asleep. "Why are you up so early?"

Seeing Artemis made Percy smile. She was the best thing that had ever happened to his life. There was almost no secret between them. Percy had never been happier than he had been when he was with Artemis. When Percy saw her, he saw that his life hadn't been that bad. He remembered all the times he'd demanded for more of Hestia's cooking and the all the time he'd got into an argument with Thalia.

He smiled at those memories.

"Hey," Percy said. "You need to brush your hair."

 **Line Break**

Beckendorf had called them for a meeting in the cafeteria. He thought they should have breakfast as they discussed their plan.

Percy and Artemis sat next to each other, no surprise there. Thalia sat next to Percy as well. Sitting next to Beckendorf was a girl who Percy assumed was Silena, Beckendorf's girlfriend. She had black luscious hair that flowed down her neck and startling blue eyes. She had the look of a natural diva and the kind of beauty that made everyone stare at her as their brains malfunction.

Thalia had been introduced to everyone last night, except for Silena. So they shook hands.

"Now, our plan." Beckendorf said. "Silena?"

She cleared her throat. "So, I think we should get Percy into the Rookie Showcase venue tonight." She said. "We need to sneak him in t"here."

Percy stared at her incredulously. "Excuse me?"

"People are going to have a witch hunt just for you, thanks to the Hacker." Silena said. "By the time the event goes off tomorrow, you won't be able to get in there without being spotted. Now, when the venue's empty, is the perfect spot."

"Where is the venue, exactly?" Piper asked. "It changes every year."

"The Colosseum," Beckendorf supplied. "The one that Olympia built, not the one in Rome."

Artemis made a 'time-out' gesture. "Are you suggesting we sneak Percy in there?" She asked. Silena and Beckendorf nodded. "Do you know how heavily guarded that place is?"

"I know someone who can help." Nico said. "Only if she agrees to help though,"

"Who?" Artemis asked.

"Annabeth."

Percy mentally cursed. Things have been awkward with Annabeth since their little 'date' at the Plaza. This would be awkward to explain to Artemis. Percy glanced at Nico to see him trying to suppress a grin. Maybe this was his way of him getting his revenge at Percy.

While Percy was glad Nico wasn't mad at him anymore, he was slightly annoyed. But then again, they had no other choice.

"Can we trust her?" Piper asked. "We don't know. She might try to turn Percy in to the Hacker."

"She won't." Nico said, smirking at Percy.

"Yeah, she won't." Percy agreed with a sigh.

"How would you guys know?" Artemis asked.

"It's just a gut feeling," Nico said. "Plus, she's a friend of Percy, isn't she?"

Artemis had never glared at her new boyfriend so intensely before. Percy felt that glare pierce though his head. Percy sent Nico a clear mental message.

 _Shut the fuck up._

"We've met a couple of times." Percy admitted. Nico looked like he was trying hard not to laugh.

"Didn't she met Hestia a few days ago? You were taking her out on a date." Thalia added, also playing into this practical joke.

Nico was dying of laughter on the inside. Percy could see his face was red from suppressing laughs. He gave a fistbump to Thalia who returned it with a giggle.

Artemis glared at him for a few more seconds while sending a clear message. _We're going to talk about this later._ She huffed before relaxing herself. "Fine."

Silena and Piper looked like they were trying not to smile while Beckendorf was just confused. "Well, that's one thing settled." He said. "Also, by the time the showcase commences, we need to protect Percy."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Artemis asked. "I will be busy with my team. I assume you guys are going to be busy as well, along with Nico who's going to participate in the Rookie Showcase." Then she glared briefly at Percy. "And _Annabeth_ is going to be busy with her team."

Beckendorf grinned. "You know, the Rebellion doesn't consists of just us. We've got allies everywhere." He said. "I'll contact someone to look after him."

"So, that settles it then." Percy said. "Can we eat now?

 **Line Break**

After eating, Percy found himself in the Rebellion's Training Room. He decided if he's going to face the Hacker soon, he better get some training on.

The Training Room was covered with white tiles from floor to ceiling. It made the room unusually bright. Just near the entrance, Percy noticed a control panel. There options to change the weather, change the environment, even options to make Olympia project a dummy for you to train with.

Percy went with to train with a dummy. He put on his AR Glasses to see the dummy standing in the middle of the room. It looked like a white crash test dummy. Percy had set the difficulty to Max and the same class as him, which is Duelist. The dummy had two swords like him, both of which were also white.

Percy took his swords out. He decided to test out his skills with two swords. He took a few deep breaths before readying himself, putting himself in combat mode.

3 . . .

2 . . .

1 . . .

The dummy was really fast as it closed in the distance between them in just two seconds. Percy barely had time to react as the dummy struck overhead with both swords. Percy raised both of his swords to block them but the dummy was faster. It kicked Percy square in the chest, making him stagger backwards. Percy grunted at the force of the kick.

"Tough little shit, aren't you?" Percy grumbled.

The dummy wasn't giving him any breathing room as it lunged at Percy, both swords were ready to slice him in half. Percy ducked under the swords and tried to stab the dummy through left and right, but it turned sideways so that the blades went past its gut and back area harmlessly.

The dummy elbowed Percy on the forehead before it went for the slice at Percy's neck. Percy managed to block it with one of his swords. The dummy's other sword was making its way towards Percy's midsection. Without a choice, Percy broke away and stepped back from it.

Again, the dummy wasn't giving him any chance to get some rest as it jumped high towards the ceiling. Both of his weapons shimmered and disappeared before being replaced with a bow and a quiver.

"Wait, what?" Percy muttered to himself. The dummy fired arrows with no hesitation. Percy dodged and blocked as many as he could before eventually tripping on his butt from trying to dodge everything.

By the time he was looking at the dummy again, the dummy was in its way down. In his hands, a massive axe that looked like it could split Percy in half as easy as Percy ripping a paper in half.

Percy rolled out of the way as the dummy cleaved the spot on the floor he'd been in. The dummy wasted no time in going for its next move. It swirled around, using the axe's momentum to propel its body forward towards Percy while the axe was coming straight at Percy.

He rolled backwards to avoid getting chopped in half. Why was the dummy changing weapons? Percy had specifically set it to a Duelist class, which was the same class he was. Was the dummy bugged? Was it hacked by the Hacker? Had Nico tampered with it just to mess with him?

The dummy changed weapons again as it threw a javelin at Percy, which Percy dodged but it narrowly misses his head. The dummy then charged at him at full speed with a hammer in hand.

Not the hammer you use for nails, mind you.

A fully blown war hammer that's almost as tall as Percy and looked like it was designed specifically to bash people into a grease spot.

The dummy lifted the hammer up, which was ridiculous because the head of the hammer looked like an anvil which is heavy as hell.

It struck at Percy in full force. A force that could probably turn his bones into mush before the dummy dissolved into nothing.

Percy sighed in relief. He looked at Nico who was at the control panel, one of his eyebrows was raised.

"How did you lose to a dummy?" He asked.

"It's bugged." Percy panted. "It changes weapons all the time."

Nico frowned. "What class did you put it on?"

"Duelist,"

"Then it's not bugged." Nico said. "Don't tell me you don't know that?"

"Know what?"

Nico facepalmed himself. "Duelists are capable of wielding any weapon in the game, except for weapons that wield magic."

"Yeah, I know that. You can use anything for battle, right?"

"Yes," Nico said. "But you can also _change_ them in the middle of a battle." Nico said. Percy stared at him blankly. "You're kidding."

Percy shook his head. "Didn't know that."

Nico sighed. "No wonder Beckendorf wanted someone to protect you." He cleared his throat. "Well take a seat, my student. I shall educate you in the ways of a Duelist."

"You're a Necromancer. How are you supposed to know how to play a Duelist class?"

"Because I read the guide, dumbass." Nico rolled his eyes. "Now, after this we're going to have a spar."

 **Line Break**

When Percy and Nico finished with their little training session, Percy was tired as hell. He'd learned how to switch weapons and such, but he was no expert in doing so.

"You're a quick learner." Nico said as he drank some water. "Most people don't pick up as fast as you."

Percy was too tired to respond. He was laying on the floor with his chest towards the ceiling. He was drenched in sweat and his body felt like they were wrapped in lead.

Duelists has no skill in particular. They rely on the combat abilities of the player. But, they can wield almost anything that exists in the game, except for weapons that requires magic abilities like staffs and wands. Aside from that, a Duelist can use them as weapons. Most classes are limited to one or two types of weapons, which made Duelists a flexible class. Though they can only go so far depending on the player's ability to fight in combat.

"Get some rest," Nico said as he got up. "Big day tomorrow."

"Hey," Percy called him. "Sorry about . . . you know."

Nico snickered. "I figured I got my revenge on you this morning." Nico said with a grin.

Percy managed a tired laugh. "So, we cool?"

Nico grinned. "Yeah, we're cool." Nico said. "But get some rest. I don't want you showing up to the showcase tired and shit. I can't be saving your ass all the time." He said before leaving the control room.

Percy nodded as he lay down there for a few minutes to catch his breath. Instead, he fell asleep.

 **Line Break**

Percy woke up to what he figured was the middle of the night. The Training Room was dark and Percy's body was sore from sleeping on the floor. He woke up and decided to take a shower before going to bed, because he smelled like a pair of old boxers.

He shakily stood up and stretched, sending a wave of pleasure down his spine. He walked over towards the exit when the lights suddenly turned on in the Training Room. Percy stopped dead in his tracks.

He felt a cold chill down on his neck. Someone else is in this room. Percy looked around and saw nothing, but he knew that's not true. Percy gulped down the lump in his throat as he put on his Glasses.

Sure enough, the Hacker stood in front of him.

He hasn't changed from when Percy last saw him. That same mask and hooded robe, and the state of him flickering as if he's trying to exist in the world.

"Ah, Perseus Jackson," The Hacker said. "It's finally good to meet you without any . . . interruptions."

The fact that he knew Percy's full name worried him. Only a handful of people knew about Percy's name, and none of them could be the Hacker.

"What are you doing here?"

The Hacker chuckled in a sinister tone. "To meet you, of course." The Hacker gestured towards him. "And to give you one final warning."

Percy wanted to move, but he couldn't. He wasn't inflicted with Paralysis. He was just too afraid to move.

"Do not go to the showcase." The Hacker warned. "Or else."

"Or else what?" Percy asked.

Then, a shrill scream pierced the night. Percy knew that scream was from inside the building and he knew who's it was.

Thalia's.

"What did you do?!" Percy whirled around in anger but the Hacker had already disappeared. Percy ran towards the exit to see where the scream was coming from.

To Percy's slight relief, he ran into Artemis so he knew she was safe. Percy saw that Nico and Piper were wide awake as well.

"Who was that?" Nico asked.

"Thalia," Percy gritted his teeth.

"Percy!" Her voice screamed from the cafeteria. They all rushed straight towards it. It felt like a cold hand was gripping Percy's heart as dread filled up his body.

They burst into the cafeteria. What they found horrified them.

Thalia was crying as she hugged her knees with her hands covering her head. She was sobbing and crying hard. But that wasn't the worst part.

Hanging from the ceiling with a noose tied to each of them, was Charles Beckendorf and Silena Beauregard. From the looks of it, they had recently passed. Blood was evident on their faces as Beckendorf had several wounds on his body. Silena has a hole go through her head that looked like it was caused by a bullet. Blood was dripping from their feet to the floor.

"Oh god . . ." Percy could hear them almost choke. This . . . this was just cruel.

Percy could almost hear the Hacker laughing and whispering in his ear.

 _You did this to them_.

* * *

 **A/N: Some heavy stuff. Like I said, reader's discretion is advised. If you found that disturbing, I'm sorry, but I did warn you. So don't sue me if you have any issues please.**

 **I know. Shit's intense. Sorry I won't be updating as frequent because, well, I'm in uni now. I will still be updating, so you bastards don't need to worry. Welp, this chapter was hard to write. Leave your thoughts in the reviews I guess.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Told you that was a heavy chapter. Don't come at me because I did warn you.**

 **Guest: We may never know.**

 **Kenneth: Thanks!**

 **RainSoL: I know. And yeah, that kinda made sense. I think.**

 **Dinklebergsc3: No thanks, but thanks!**

 **jonkatarina: ;)**

 **CombatFan134: Meh. ;)**

 **Quihi: He is.**

 **Let's get to it. Again, another PSA warning. Not as intense as the previous one, but there are some indications of it here and there. Just to be safe. Reader's discretion is advised.**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

That night, they decided to stay at the Orphanage.

The Rebellion's HQ was under lock down. Piper called the ambulance and the police. Their statements were written down and they were asked to leave the area as the police get their investigation underway.

The ambulance carried their bodies away under a white blanket. Beckendorf and Silena were confirmed dead. Silena had an instant death from a gunshot through the head while Beckendorf's cause of death was suffocation. Meaning he was hanged to the death.

While it had been a few hours past midnight, none of them was too eager to sleep. Hestia had been kind enough to let them stay there for a while, to help gather their thoughts, but no one was eager to do so. No one was talking.

Percy was worried about Thalia. She'd saw their death first hand. That kind of experience for someone as young as Thalia . . . it can't be good for her. Thalia was sitting on a sofa, hugging her knees and not looking up.

Piper looked shaken up, just as the rest of them. She kept fidgeting her fingers as she stare blankly into nothing. But it was evident that she'd been crying. Artemis as well, who was sitting next to Piper. Her hands were trembling in fear as the real threat of what they were up to was now evident.

Percy, on the other hand, was with Nico. The warmth helped eased their nerves a little bit. By the looks of it, they needed every bit of comfort they could have.

The news media was having a field day. By the time Percy and his friends were escorted out of the Rebellion HQ, news reporters were already surrounding the place trying to catch on any stories from anyone on what just happened.

Article after article popped out in the Internet. Most of them blamed the AR Glasses to be the cause of death. Some blamed Percy because of the Hacker's threat. Percy's heart felt like it was clenched in a fist of ice. He was feeling guilty of Beckendorf's and Silena's death.

"You okay?" Nico broke the silence.

Percy stared into the fire. "It's my fault." Percy muttered miserably. "He was looking for me. He warned me about staying out of the showcase. Beckendorf and Silena was just a warning. Who knows who he'll kill after this?"

Nico glared at him. "Keep talking like that and I'll shove that burning log in your eye." He grumbled. "Beckendorf and Silena died to stop him. The Hacker plans on controlling everyone. You are the key to him doing so. If he gets his hands on you, they'll die for nothing."

Percy sighed. "What should we do now?"

Nico stared into the fire silently. "At this point? I have no idea." He admitted.

They stood there in silence for what seems like an eternity before someone knocked on the door. All of their heads snapped up at the sound of it. Percy looked at Nico to see him with a guarded look on his face. After tonight, none of them were keen on getting guests.

Percy and Nico walked slowly, almost tiptoeing, towards the door. Someone kept knocking on it. It's not like a furious knock. It was more like to see if anybody's home.

To Percy's relief, a female voice called out. "Percy? Are you there?"

It was Annabeth.

Percy opened the door slightly and peeked through it for confirmation. Sure enough, she was there. He unlocked the door for her.

From the red rings evident in her eyes, Percy knew she'd been crying. As soon as she saw him, her eyes lit up as she jumped and hugged Percy.

"Ow," Percy said. "The ribs, the ribs."

"Thank god you're safe!" Annabeth exclaimed as she kept hugging him. "I was so worried!"

"Yeah, I know," Percy grunted. "But the ribs."

After Annabeth had finally let go of him, he smiled sadly. "How did you know I was here?"

"Where else would you be?" Annabeth said. "When I saw the place was surrounded by the police, I came here. I figured the others would be here as well."

Percy nodded. "Come on in."

Annabeth came in. Everyone loosened up, except for Artemis who just had an eyebrow raised at her. When Annabeth saw Piper, she rushed towards her and gave her a hug.

"Annabeth," Piper wheezed. "My ribs."

Annabeth let go. "I'm sorry about what happened." She said as she sniffed. "When I heard what happened I thought . . . I thought . . ."

Piper hugged her. "I'm safe. We all are."

"But Silena . . . And Beckendorf . . ."

"I know." Piper sobbed. "I know, Annabeth."

Percy figured that Piper and Annabeth must've been best friends from the way they interacted. Percy sat down next to Artemis who'd stopped trembling. He laced his fingers through hers. She smiled at him gratefully.

"Percy," Artemis said softly. "Are you sure about this?"

"About what?"

"This," Artemis said. "Going after the Hacker and such. I mean, I know the dangers of it. But now that I've seen it right in front of my eyes." Artemis shook her head. "I can't lose you, Percy. Not again."

"Hey," Percy cupped her cheek with his hand. "We're gonna get through this, okay? I'm not going to leave you." He kissed her forehead. Percy noticed that Annabeth noticed it. He felt a sharp glare coming from her, but he decided not to question it.

Artemis smiled at him. "You should talk to Thalia. She's a bit shaken up."

"I know." Percy looked at Thalia with worry. "It's not right for her to see that."

They stayed for another minute in silence before his AR Glasses rang. Everyone turned their attention towards Percy. Who could be calling him in the middle of the night?

Percy was a bit scared on taking the call. What if it's the Hacker again? What if he tries to kill any one of them again? Percy let the Glasses ring for a few seconds.

"Pick it up." Nico said nervously. "I'll keep an eye out." He said as he put on his AR Glasses.

Percy gulped down a lump on his throat before answering the call. To his massive relief, it was Grover.

"Percy!" Grover sounded frantic on the other line. "Dude, where are you?"

"I'm at the Orphanage," Percy said. "What's wrong?"

"Everyone is looking for you," Grover said. Percy could hear chaos at the other end of the call. "They're after your head. You need to get out of town."

"Where are you?"

"I'm at Crimson College." Grover said. "There's a mob here and they're sweeping the city looking for you."

Percy took a deep breath. "Thanks for the heads up, Grover. Stay safe." He said before turning the call off. "We need to move now." He turned towards Annabeth. "Can you get me into the showcase?"

Annabeth nodded. "I'll get on it as soon as possible."

Percy turned towards Nico. "And you? What will you do?"

Nico took a few deep breaths. "The show must go on. Piper and I will represent the Rebellion at the Rookie Showcase."

Piper stood up and nodded. "For Beckendorf and Silena."

"I'll go with you guys." Thalia said. "You're gonna need everyone."

Percy looked at her with worry. "Are you sure about this?"

Thalia looked scared, but she was trying to put up a brave face. "Yeah. I can deal with this."

"I'll be with my team." Artemis said. She turned towards Percy. "Promise me you'll stay safe?"

"I can't." Percy admitted. There's no knowing of what they'll face and the things they will go through. Artemis didn't look satisfied with that answer, but she knew that he couldn't promise her that. She was just trying to comfort herself.

"So, are we all set?" Annabeth asked. "If we are, then we need to move."

 **Line Break**

Percy was in a limousine with Annabeth. He was dressed in a tuxedo, a black haired wig and a pair of glasses with joints so thick that they look like they could withstand a karate chop.

If this was Annabeth's idea of disguise, then it's going to work.

Annabeth sat silently with him until she broke the silence. "So, you and Artemis."

Percy winced. "Yeah. It just kinda happen."

"'Kinda happen'." Annabeth repeated as if she's trying to decipher what he actually meant by that. "Isn't she your ex?"

"Yeah."

"And you just went back with her?"

Percy looked at her in confusion. "You sound like you've got a chip on your shoulder."

Percy swore Annabeth was glaring at him from the reflection on her window, but it was hard to tell. Instead, she just replied with, "It's nothing."

They then sat in awkward silence for the rest of the trip. It took about thirty more minutes before they finally reached the Colosseum.

From the outside, the Colosseum reminded Percy of a floater kids use for swimming. If the kid was the size of a twenty foot tall giant.

The Colosseum shifted colours every few seconds, from blue to green to red. On the walls were the words _Colosseum_ written in big bold white letters. Spotlights were shining all over the stadium, lighting up the area.

"Whoa." Percy's mouth dropped. "That place is huge."

"I had the same reaction you had when I first saw it." Annabeth grinned. Then, her face turned serious. "Get ready. Security's here." They stopped near a metal gate designed with sharp points above it so that no one can climb over it without getting stuck.

Percy cleared his throat and straightened himself. The window on Annabeth's side opened. A security guy dressed like an FBI agent peeked through the window.

"ID please," The guard said. Annabeth handed her Glasses to the security guard. After he did who knows what to the Glasses, he handed it back to Annabeth. "And the gentleman's."

Annabeth shook her head. "He's my butler. Just hired him."

"Does he not have an AR Glasses?" The security asked.

Again, Annabeth shook her head. "Doesn't believe in them. He believes the Glasses are the work of the devil."

For dramatic effect, Percy pointed at Annabeth's glasses and said. "El Diablo."

Annabeth looked surprised but managed to suppress it. "See?"

The guard stared at Percy for a few seconds. "Fine." He stood up and pushed a button on the wall. "Let them through!" The gates opened up, letting them through.

Once the guards were out of sight, Annabeth grinned at Percy. "Nice one."

Percy grinned back at her. He looked out the window to see that they were going into the Colosseum's underground parking lot. It was as empty as a cemetery. The driver parked them near one of the doors that led up.

"What now?" Percy asked as both him and Annabeth exited the vehicle.

"This is as far as I go with you." Annabeth said. "You need to hide here until tomorrow. Keep out of sight until the showcase starts. After that, the plan starts."

Percy nodded. "Well, good luck." Percy said.

"You too." Annabeth said.

Percy turned around and walked for the door. Before he could go through it, he felt something grab his shoulder and turned him around. Before he could react, Annabeth smashed her lips against his. Percy was surprised, but he didn't push her away.

It was a brief and sweet kiss. When Annabeth pulled away, she was blushing. "Sorry." Annabeth said. "Just needed to get that out of my system."

Percy replied with something intelligent, like: "Uh?"

Annabeth chuckled. "I'll make you a deal. If you survive tomorrow, I won't tell Artemis about this."

Percy paled instantly. Suddenly death felt like a sweet release instead of Artemis's wrath. "Noted." Percy gulped.

Annabeth smiled. "Be careful. I'll see you tomorrow."

 **Line Break**

Percy found the Player's Lounge. He noticed that there were no cameras or anything, so he figured he would rest here. He locked the doors and blocked it with a drawer, just for extra precaution.

The place was near the roof of the Colosseum, which surrounded the thousands of seats but the middle of the roof was open to the sky.

The Lounge had a bar on one side of the wall, with the counter top surrounded by spinning stools. Sleek designed sofas were lined up facing the ceiling-to-floor window panels that overlooked the stadium, so you can see the entire field below.

It was still dark, but Percy could see a few bits and pieces of the Colosseum thanks to the moonlight. Seats surrounded the centre of the venue, which was a grass field the size of a soccer field. This place was insanely huge.

He didn't feel like sleeping, but as soon as he collapsed onto one of the sofas his eyes felt heavy. He wished that this had never happened. He wished he didn't pick up Olympia. He wished he hadn't beaten Luke in that stupid practice match.

He regretted being the cause of Beckedorf's and Silena's death. He felt like crying and punching a wall at the same time. Just as he was about to fall asleep, his AR Glasses rang. Percy put his Glasses on nervously. It was Artemis calling him.

He answered. "Hey."

"Hey," Percy could hear her sigh in relief. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Percy said. "I was just getting ready to sleep."

"Same here." Artemis said. "Percy, if anything happens at the showcase . . ." Artemis took a few deep breaths. "I love you, Percy."

"I love you too, Arty." Percy said. "Get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us."

"Yeah." Artemis said. "Just making sure you're safe. Goodnight, dork."

Percy rolled his eyes with a smile. "Goodnight, Arty."

 **Line Break**

Percy woke up to the sound of someone clearing their throat. He jolted upwards and prepared for a fight with his face half-asleep and his hair swept to one side. Probably with a drool lining up from his mouth too.

The person sighed in exasperation. "You didn't need to lock the door, you know?"

As the dizziness of just waking up faded from Percy's head, his vision cleared. He looked in front of him to see Frank Zhang grinning at him.

"Frank?" Percy said.

"That's me." He said. "Don't worry. Only players can enter this place. Since you're registered as the Wildcard, I guess that includes you."

Percy stretched as his bones made satisfying cracking sounds. "I guess."

Frank looked at him for a moment before his expression dropped. "I heard what happened. I'm sorry about –"

"It's okay." Percy cut him off. He didn't really feel like talking about it.

"So, what's the plan?" Frank asked.

"I don't think I should get you involved in this." Percy said. "It's too dangerous."

Frank grinned before he rolled up his sleeve, revealing a white arm band embroidered with a logo. A sword going through a skull.

The Rebellion's logo.

"You guys aren't alone." Frank said. "My team and I are with you."

"Holy shit," Percy grinned. "How many people are in the Rebellion?"

"More than I care to remember." Frank said. "So, what's the plan?"

Percy straightened himself as he explained. "We know that the Hacker is currently targetting the Rookie Showcase, but we don't know what for." Percy said. "And he wanted me to stay out of it, because he needed me alive to get in control of Olympia."

"Which means he's probably going to commit genocide here," Frank finished. "So, you're here so that his plan would fail?"

Percy nodded. "In the meantime, we try to locate the Hacker to see if he's here or not."

"How do you know he's even going to be here?"

"He has to be here," Percy said. "So far, he only engages people at a small scale via his image that the Glasses project. To do that on a crowd as big as the ones that'll be here today, you can't do that remotely. You have to be here."

Frank nodded in understanding. Then, the door to the Lounge slid open, revealing Artemis. When she saw him, the expression of relief was evident on her face as she ran up and hugged him, kissing him on the lips in the process. Frank just raised an eyebrow at it.

"Thank god you're safe." Artemis sighed. Then, she turned towards Frank. "Good to see you, Zhang."

"And you too," Frank said. "So, you two are a thing now?"

Percy and Artemis blushed. "If you can, act like it's not true."

Frank smirked. "Practice what you preach, brother." He said.

They stayed in the Lounge for a while as Nico then soon joined them. The crowd was starting to fill up the place. Thousands of them were taking up the seats. The morning turned to noon before Percy could even notice. By then, almost every seat in the Colosseum was occupied.

"Where are the other players?" Percy asked.

"They won't be here until evening," Artemis said. "We have some time to spare."

Percy nodded. "Where's Piper and Thalia?"

"Piper's dealing with some last minute business on getting Thalia to be a member for the Rebellion." Nico said. "That girl has some serious skills when it comes to persuasion."

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Percy said. "Plus, you're gonna have a nice addition to your team. Thalia's an amazing player. She'll do great."

"I know," Nico said. "She managed to get close to beating me several times."

"Really?" Percy asked. Nico nodded. Percy shook his head in disbelief. Thalia was getting better in this game by the minute.

"Guys," Artemis called both of them. "Come here for a second."

Percy and Nico went over to the bar where Artemis and Frank were having a discussion. The bar was manned by a robot bartender.

"I think I've found something that can help." Frank said. "Have a look at this video."

He passed Percy a transparent glass tablet. A video was displayed on the surface of it. Nico stood by Percy's side, waiting to watch the video with him.

Percy pressed play on the video. It was a replay of a match between two players. Percy didn't know anything about these players. It looked like an amateur match to him.

"What is this?" Percy asked.

"Just keep watching." Frank said.

Percy kept watching. It was a match against a Sorcerer against a Fencer. The Sorcerer has the upper hand because he has the range attacks.

One of his fire spells hit the Fencer and the Fencer panicked as he frantically tried to put the fire out of his body. Even though it's only through the Glasses, it felt real to him. It was like he's actually burning. The video ended abruptly after that.

"What was that?" Nico grumbled. "That was a horrible match."

"Here's the context to that," Frank explained. "That Fencer was a hacker. He's a small profile hacker who hacks the game so that he has an edge over his opponent. It makes that so his body would do things that he couldn't normally do. The same way the Hacker that we're dealing with operates."

"So there's a bunch of hackers." Percy said. "How does this help us?"

"Look closely." Frank said as he rewinds the video to the part where the Fencer was trying to put out the flames engulfing him. "See how he feels the flames?"

Realization dawned on Percy's face. The pieces start to fall in. "He feels it. He feels the pain."

Frank grinned. "Exactly." He said. "This hacking business works both ways. If he can get to us,"

"Then we can get to him." Nico said. "Even if it's just a projection of him through our Glasses, even if we attack him he'll feel it."

"So that means, we have a chance." Artemis said. "Now what?"

"We're gonna have to bait him out." Nico said. "Any ideas."

An idea formed in Percy head. It was a crazy, rushed out and off the shelf kind of plan. But it was the best one he could think of. He grinned in excitement.

"I'm going to make a hell of an entrance."

* * *

 **A/N: I guess I would end it there. The finale is close. So, I've been thinking. After all this is done. After the story is done. I've been thinking about . . .**

 **A sequel :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Sorry for the late update. I was getting caught up in school stuff.**

 **unicorn horn powder: Um, yeah.**

 **Kenneth: I'm thinking about it.**

 **Zaydan StormVoid: Ayy, my man. I missed you. For the classes, yeah, I need to explain a bit more on that. So that's gonna come soon. Like a quick guide to Olympia kind of stuff.**

 **CombatFan134: Never heard of it until now. I'll take a look later on.**

 **Alex Focker: Well, I wrote this story with the SAO movie as an inspiration or basis sort of. The concept of it is there but I'm not gonna copy and paste the whole plot of it. And for the box, *wink ;)**

 **Quihi: Yeah he did. Which is why he said there's no need to block it. (a bit of retcon in my behalf).**

 **RainSoL: We shall see to it.**

 **Now, onwards!**

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

It was night time. Percy was standing on the roof of the Colosseum, overlooking everyone. Luckily the Colosseum had a huge opening on the roof. This was going to be perfect.

The only ones who knew about this plan was Percy himself, Nico, Artemis, and Frank. They'd each went to their respective teams.

Percy stood on the metal railing, the cold wind of the night blew gently on his skin. He was thinking about what will happen after this, should he survive the ordeal. Was he going to continue to play Olympia? Will he go pro? Will this thing he has with Artemis will last? He didn't know.

Percy sighed as he put on his AR Glasses. Nico, Artemis, and Frank were all in his party so that it would be easier for the four of them to communicate. While Percy was on the roof of the Colosseum, they were at the Players' Lounge, watching from a distance.

"I'm not being paranoid and all," Frank said. "But won't the Hacker know what we're up to if we use the Glasses to talk?"

"This plan of yours is crazy," Artemis said. "You do know this will get you killed, right?"

"It's gonna be fine," Nico said. "If the Hacker founds out about us, then the plan is almost there, right?"

"Just focus," Percy said as he rolled his eyes. "Keep an eye out for any suspicious people."

"Nico looks suspicious," Frank said.

"Shut up, Zhang."

Percy just chuckled. He was glad that Nico hadn't let Beckendorf's and Silena's death get to him. It was sad, but they have to stay focused on the task. The main reason the Rebellion was founded in the first place. That's what both of them would've wanted.

"Shouldn't we let the others know about this?" Artemis asked. "I mean, Piper and Thalia will be confused."

"Let them be," Percy said. "If the Hacker knows they're involved in it, he'll go for them. I don't want that."

Then, the stadium lights went off. At first Percy thought the Hacker was making his move, but it was part of the opening show. A spotlight focuses onto the middle of the field, where a woman stood in a glowing white gown and a cloak of peacock feathers over her shoulders.

Percy couldn't see much from so high up. He could see the woman's black hair and slim body, like a model. When the spotlight shined on her, the crowd cheered loudly. The noise from the crowd almost made Percy deaf. It seems like she was a big deal.

"Who is that?" Percy asked.

"You're kidding," Frank said. "You don't know her?"

"He doesn't watch Olympia tournaments much," Artemis explained. "That's Hera. She's like one of the most famous media personality out there. She hosts Olympia events regularly and has a rabid fanbase following her."

"By rabid you mean Frank Zhang," Nico giggled.

"Shut up, di Angelo."

When the cheering died down a bit, Hera raised her hands to the crowd. "Are you guys ready for the Rookie Showcase?" She announced. The crowd went wild. "We have a lot of rookies this year. One of which has made some very interesting events happen."

When the crowd knew Hera was talking about Percy, there was a mixture of boos and cheers. At least not everyone hates him like he thought they would.

"Could've been worse," Frank summarised.

"I've gotta get in position." Nico said. "Stay safe, you guys." He said before leaving the party. He was going on the field along with Luke and the other rookies as well.

Hera gestured at the stage in one end of the field. "Now presenting our contestants!"

From the back of the stage, the rookies walked out and stood on stage. Clearly they were used to this media exposure as they smiled and waved at the crowd who were cheering for them. Percy spotted Luke, dressed in full battle regalia. He wore what looked like bronze armour and a sword was strapped to his side. His sandy blonde hair could easily be spotted even from this high up.

Next to Luke was Nico who was dressed in his Necromancer's black robe along with the staff to go with it. Next to Luke, Nico was very short.

"To think I'm involved in this just because I had a stupid fight with that guy," Percy muttered.

"Don't get sentimental on us now," Artemis said. "Your turn is coming up."

Then, Hera announced again. "And now, for our Wildcard contestant voted by the community," A mixture of cheers and jeers filled the stadium. "Percy Jackson!"

The light shined on the entrance to the stage, but no one came out. The other rookies onstage were confused, so was Hera and the crowd.

"Mr. Jackson?" Hera called again. There were murmurs around the Colosseum, wondering where Percy had gone to. "Well, it appears that we have a slight misinformation here." Below, Percy saw someone rushing towards Hera and said something to her before running back. "It appears that Mr. Jackson won't be joining us tonight."

There were a lot of disappointed 'Aww!'s and some satisfied cheering.

"Let's not let that delay us any longer. For today we have the main event of Luke Castellan going against –" Whatever Hera was going to say had been cut off due to a technical problem. She looked confused as she tapped on the microphone head and saying some things into it, but the speaker didn't respond.

But Percy knew, it wasn't a technical problem.

 _You people,_ a distorted voice started to come out of the speakers around the stadium. Percy recognized it immediately. _You people are sheep!_

The Hacker was waiting for confirmation on if Percy was here or not. Now that he's got that information, he's going to execute his plans.

 _You are blind to what is in front of your eyes. You are trapped inside a bubble filled with poison. This man you whom you worship like a god will be your downfall. Pray that he will come save you as you will soon die by my hands. All of you will die by my hands!_

Screams of panic started to fill the Colosseum as they were struggling to get out. It soon turns into chaos as people scrambled for the exits.

But just as Percy had presumed, the Hacker wasn't going to let anyone leave this building.

 _Where are you now, Poseidon?! Save your people! Save them for their demise!_

"Percy," Artemis said through their communication. "Are you ready?"

Percy took a deep breath. "This is a long drop you know."

"Are you getting nervous now?" Frank asked. "This was your idea."

"I know, I know." Percy said. "Is the cushion below ready?"

"Yes it's just waiting for you," Artemis. "Just don't miss it. If you do, well, you'll die."

Percy let out a nervous laugh. "Can I rethink about this?" From Percy's Glasses, he could see that many people are collapsing to the ground without cause. If they were dead or not, Percy didn't know. And he didn't want to find out what would happen if he didn't take this jump.

"You have to jump now!" Artemis said.

Percy took a deep breath before going for a dive straight towards the field. Percy only remembered everything going pass him in a blur for just a few seconds before he turned on his back and a 'cushion' expanded, breaking his fall. Even though it kept him alive, that doesn't mean that it didn't hurt. The cushion was like one of those things that firemen always use to break someone's fall if they jump from somewhere high up.

"Fuck," Percy muttered. "That hurt."

"Thank god you made it," Artemis said in relief. "I'm going to you right now."

"No!," Percy said. "You need to help the people evacuate this place. They're going to drop here if you don't make it out."

"Percy's right," Another voice said. This time, Annabeth joined his party unknowingly. So she's in their voice communication. "Right now, these people are only being paralysed. All of them have their AR Glasses on. If we don't get them out, we'll have a stadium full of limp bodies."

"Who invited her?" Artemis asked.

"I did," Frank replied.

"That's not important right now." Percy said. "You guys get the people out of here. I'll get the Hacker's attention." Percy stood up with difficulty as he looked around to see if there's any sign of the Hacker. Unluckily, the place was in chaos as everyone was trying to get out while some of the collapsed to the ground. Percy noticed that they were all inflicted by Paralysis, which was somewhat a relief. But all their health bars were empty.

"Hey!" Percy called out. "I'm right here!"

While the crowd paid no attention to him, a figured materialized out of nowhere. Under the Anonymous mask, Percy couldn't see his reaction. But Percy was certain he was glaring at him.

"I thought I warned you what would happen if you come here," The Hacker said. "Are you really that stupid?"

"Something like that." Percy took out his swords. "Care to fight me like a man?"

The Hacker laughed. "You people are reckless." He turned towards the chaotic crowd. "Audience!" He said. This time, his voice boomed out of the speakers. "We have a very special guest!" He gestured at Percy. "The young Percy Jackson! I assume you are all afraid of death, yes? If his health bar reaches zero, your life will be spared."

Shit.

Without hesitation, everyone started to scramble for Percy. People from the bleachers jumped onto the field, weapons drawn and ready for blood.

"Guys!" Percy called as he got ready. "How are you with the evacuation?"

"They're turning back!" Artemis said. "That Hacker has got them reeled in."

Percy dodged a swing of a sword from one of the players and he stabbed him with his. The players health bar dropped all the way down to zero.

So, one fatal blow is all it takes.

The player that Percy had stabbed was then inflicted with Paralysis, making him unable to move. That's how the Hacker was getting to people. He drains their health and then inflicts them with Paralysis.

Percy dodged another attack by a Fencer, who was attacking Percy faster than he could deflect. Percy stepped back a few times before he had to roll sideways from an incoming hammer that was aimed straight for his head.

Using the technique he learned before this, he switched weapons into a spear as he threw one onto the Fencer before switching to a shield to block another hammer strike from the second enemy.

He noticed someone was running behind him, sword on the ready. Percy pushed the hammer guy away as he stepped out of the way of the sword guy, letting him hit each other. The sword guy stabbed the hammer guy before he whirled around in anger and swung his sword straight at Percy's head. Percy ducked under the swing and stabbed the guy with a dagger right in the gut, making him go paralysed.

He saw that hundreds of people were going towards him, out for blood. He wasn't going to win this battle. He needed to find the Hacker to end all of this.

Percy could barely feel all the hairs on his body stand up before his instincts screamed _DODGE!_ He rolled out of the way as a lightning bolt struck to where he'd been standing just a second ago. A Vanguard charged at him, shield ready along with a barbed spear.

Percy gritted his teeth as he somersaulted away from the Vanguard before planting his foot on the ground and lunged forward, careful to dodge the spear. He tackled the Vanguard before stabbing him on the neck with a dagger.

Again, his instincts went on red alert as he immediately moved out of the way even before he knew what was going to happen. Where he'd been stood an earth spike that would've gutted Percy in half if it had hit him. Percy's sense worked in overtime. He swung at the head of an Assassin with a club which knocked her out before switching weapons into a massive axe that looked it could split metal in half. Percy swung the axe sideways, creating an arc of death around him to make sure he had some breathing room. Percy dodged a beam of green light by ducking under it before rolling away just as a fireball was going towards him at terminal velocity.

But he was getting tired. Facing a lot of people like this is tiring.

"Percy, you need to get out of there!" Annabeth said.

"That's easy for you to say!" Percy said angrily as he stabbed someone in the chest before throwing him to the crowd. "You're not the one facing a hundred people at once!"

"Just run then!" Annabeth shouted.

"There's no running from here!" Percy let out a defiant roar as he pushed away two people who attacked him at the same time with his shield. "I'm surrounded!"

"We're coming to help," Frank said.

"No!" Percy said. He ran forward an dropkicked one of the Sorcerers that was giving him trouble at close range. He landed with a thud. "Search for the Hacker. If you get him, this'll be over."

"You will die," Artemis argued. "I'm coming now."

"Just trust me and –"

He was cut short by the sound of a screech coming from behind the crowd. The crowd hurriedly moved out of the way as a monster slithered into view, which made Percy pale.

You remember Thalia's shield? The Aegis? The one with the snake haired lady face imprinted on it?

Yeah, Medusa. Remember her?

This was her older, scarier sister.

The monster stared at Percy with it's menacing green eyes. The hundreds of little snakes attached to her head hissed at Percy angrily.

 _Since taking down one person seems to be an impossible task for these people,_ the Hacker's voice grumbled in the speaker of the stadium. _I'll send out a special treat for you, Percy. And if anyone gets in the way, they will die. And when I say die . . . I mean permanent death._

The crowd that was previously after Percy for blood has now lost interest in him as they retreated gladly and hastily away from this monster.

The monster Percy was facing looked very ferocious and fearsome that Percy doubt he would have a good night sleep after this. She had a human head with snakes for hair, just like Medusa. She had half a humanoid woman's body but with a reptilian skin. From waist down, she was half dragon. Her dragon half had black scales with claws that could pull your head out of your body. At the end of the dragon's half was a scorpion tail, because they figured this monster wasn't monstrous enough. At the point where both halves meet, her skin was like bubbling and morphing into different animal heads like bear, tiger, crocodiles and other animals. At her legs, vipers dart around and snap anything that moves near them.

To top it all off, she has dark reptilian wings. Because all monsters aren't monsters until they have wings.

This monster in front of Percy is not just a nightmare. If nightmares could have nightmares, that's what she would be. Percy looked above the monster to see her name and health bar.

"Kampe . . ." Percy muttered.

"What did you say?" Annabeth asked. "Did you just say Kampe? Kampe is there?"

"Yeah," Percy gulped. "The Hacker sent her."

"Percy, you need to get out of there." Annabeth said. "I mean like right now!"

"What's wrong?"

"Kampe is one of the hardest World Bosses." Annabeth said. "Even with a twenty player raid, there's no beating her. Beating her has not been done in the history of Olympia. She's not in your level, she's not in my level, she's not in anyone's level."

"We can take her on," Percy said as he gripped both of his swords tightly. In truth, he was convincing himself rather than Annabeth. This was the only way for them to get to the Hacker.

"No, Percy, you don't understand." Annabeth said. It sounded like she was running because she panted as she spoke. "There's no 'taking her on'. If the Hacker is serious about permanent death, then this is going to be a permanent death for you."

"Percy, Annabeth's right." Artemis said. "You need to back out on this one. I've seen what the monster is capable of. You will have no chance. Even with a team behind you, I doubt you will have a chance."

"Let's just take a step back to think about this, Percy." Frank added. "We need to focus on getting these people out of here."

Percy gritted his teeth. All his friends are doubting him. If they stepped back from this, who knows what the Hacker has in plan next? They might not have the opportunity to do this again. The Hacker might not be here the next time he plans something. This is going to be their only shot on getting the Hacker. There will be no 'next time' after this.

"Focus on getting everyone out." Percy said. "I'll deal with Kampe."

"Percy, stop!" Artemis said but Percy wasn't listening anymore.

He moved forward. He was gripping the hilt of his swords so hard that he was afraid that they were going to break. Kampe saw him and screeched loudly as she took out two scimitars, holding one in each hand. The scimitars glow a greenish aura that didn't look good.

The animal heads at Kampe's waist started snapping at Percy, even though he was far away. Percy didn't have a clear strategy to go about this. Nor did he know how to fight Kampe.

"If I win," Percy said. He knew the Hacker could hear him. "You let these people go. Free them of their Paralysis."

 _Fair enough_ , the Hacker said through the Colosseum's speakers. _Assuming you live_.

Percy wasted no time on rushing towards Kampe. He was going to take on a World Boss alone. He was going to save everyone in this building and confront the Hacker and punch him straight on the face.

You can guess how well that went.

Kampe swung one of her scimitars at Percy's head, but he parried it before aiming at her legs. Before he could even get close to her legs, the vipers on her legs darted towards Percy, threatening to bite him. Percy had to back away. He could barely see the scorpion tail creeping up on him and tried to sting him before he ducked under it.

Percy tried to slice at the tail, but it was way more quicker as the tail slithered out of view and Kampe swung her scimitars again. She wasn't as bad as Percy in dual-wielding with both hands because she was starting to overwhelm him.

Percy tried parrying, blocking and dodging everything from the scimitars, to the vipers, to her dragon claws, to her tail and her morphing waist.

But it was too much for him. He wasn't keeping up. He's going to fail.

Percy tripped in the midst of fighting her. Kampe licked her lips delightfully as she lunged at Percy. This was his mistake for not listening to everyone else. Kampe was going to kill him. The Hacker was going to get his wish. Artemis will now be left alone and the world will probably be plunged into chaos.

He closed his eyes and hoped for the best. There was the sound of metal clanging as Kampe screeched in pain. "Get up," A familiar voice said.

Percy opened his eyes to see the very last person he would expect to see. "Luke?"

Luke stood behind another person with a shield on the ready. Percy stood up to see that Kampe was slightly staggered, giving them time to breathe. "I couldn't stand to see you get your ass handed to you like that." Luke said as he took his sword out. "At least not until I hand it to you myself."

"Huh," Percy said. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because," Luke turned around to face Kampe. "I can't let my career go down the drain before it even started." Then he gestured at the person with the shield. "This is, um, what was your name again?"

The person groaned as she turned around and winked at Percy. "Thalia?"

"Wait, you two know each other?" Luke asked.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Focus on the task, doofus." He turned towards Percy. "The others will be here soon. They're busy evacuating people."

"So for now, it's just us three?" Percy asked.

"For now, yes." Luke said. "Now get ready. This won't be an easy battle."

Percy stared at Kampe, who was glaring at all three of them. "Any plans?" Percy asked as Thalia's a nd Luke's name appeared in his UI along with his list of party members.

"Kill first. Questions later." Luke said as he rushed forward with his blade. Under the light, the blade gleamed in bronze and silver, like two different metals were forged into one blade.

Percy grinned as he charged forward with renewed vigour. Thalia stood in front of Kampe with her shield and spear. It seemed wrong for them to let a girl to take all the damage, but Thalia was no ordinary girl. If you tap her on the shoulder, she'll punch you in the throat.

Thalia thrusts her spear slightly at Kampe. It poked her, but it looked more like an annoyance to her rather than really damage her. Whenever Kampe struck with her scimitar, Thalia raised her shield to block her attacks.

"Don't be too aggressive," Percy said. "Keep your distance."

"I know," Thalia grunted. As soon as they knew Kampe had her eyes locked onto her due to too much aggro, Luke and Percy went to work.

Percy stabbed at Kampe's scorpion tail. As she howled in pain, Luke used his sword to cut of several vipers that sprouted from her legs. Dead viper heads dropped to the floor as the hissed in pain. Percy took the time to use his other sword to slice off the pointy tip of Kampe's scorpion tail, but his blade bounced off the skin of it.

The scorpion tail seems to have a mind of its own as it backed up and whipped itself towards Percy. Percy narrowly dodges it as the sharp point of the tail misses his head.

Luke was doing some serious work with the viper heads. He's eliminating the threats one by one, starting with the legs. Percy saw Kampe's HP starting to drop a little bit, but it was barely enough. If they kept going like this, it will take a year for them to defeat her.

"Luke," Percy grunted as he held onto his sword which was still stuck on Kampe's scorpion tail. "You need to ease off with the assault. You're going to draw in too much aggro."

"Thalia's got it." Luke said. But Percy knew. Thalia had stopped attacking because she's been too busy defending herself against Kampe's attacks. She hasn't got it. "We'll be fine."

"Luke, fall back!" Percy ordered.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Luke said angrily as he stabbed his sword deep into Kampe's torso. Kampe screeched in anger as she whirled around towards Luke, making Percy fly along with her tail. Thalia got sent back flying by Kampe's tail as well. Kampe now had her eyes on Luke.

Luke's sword was still embedded in Kampe's left torso. He was unarmed with no way of defending himself. Percy tried stabbing Kampe multiple times, to get Kampe to aggro on him, but Luke had built up too much of it.

Percy jumped off of Kampe's tail and ran towards Luke, hoping to reach him before Kampe does. As Kampe was going towards Luke, time seemed to slow down for Percy.

Earthern tendrils sprouted out from the ground and wrapped themselves around Kampe, making her immobile. Her scimitars were inches away from Luke. Kampe had been rooted.

Percy saw far behind Kampe at the other end of the field, Annabeth was standing with her staff out. She was using her Enchanter class.

"Get back!" She said. "It won't last long."

Luke hurriedly retreated, but Kampe quickly broke free of the Root and was making her way towards Luke. She was stopped again as an arrow fired with such ferocity hit Kampe from the side, sending her tumbling to the ground. Percy looked at where the arrow come from to see Artemis perched up from the bleachers, her bow at the ready.

Percy took the opportunity to rush forward and stab her in the head, but her dragon wings swooped in and covered her head. Percy's sword bounced of Kampe's wings harmlessly.

He was getting frustrated. Was she made out of steel? His attacks kept bouncing off of her.

Kampe swept her wings aside, Percy along with it as he was sent rolling onto the grass. Percy stood up and glared at Kampe. Her health hasn't even decreased more than ten percent of her total health.

"This is impossible," Luke panted. "She's unbeatable."

Percy didn't want to admit it, but he was right. Kampe was far from difficult. She's impossible to beat. Percy looked around hopelessly. The Colosseum was littered with people being paralysed from head to toe. There were probably close to a hundred people in here. Many of them were away from the field, so that saved them the trouble of moving them all away.

Maybe this was the Hacker's plan. To bait out Percy here so that he could have him all to himself. All the Hacker has to do now is kill these other players and he'll have Percy alone with no one to help.

Percy was about to tell them to retreat when suddenly the ground in front of Kampe cracked open and skeletons started to crawl out. Kampe destroyed them with ease, but they kept coming out at an absurd rate, climbing onto Kampe. They didn't do damage, but they did well to distract her.

"Sorry I'm late," Nico grinned as his name popped into the party list. "Brought some friends with me."

"Friends?"

Fireballs rained from above the stadium all aimed at Kampe though some almost hit them. "Leo!" Frank yelled from the voice communication. "Try and _not_ to kill us."

"Hey, it's your fault for standing near her." A new voice said through the call. Two names popped up in the party list. One of them was Leo Valdez, who Percy figured was the Sorcerer who threw random fireballs.

"Try to aim _at_ Kampe. Not at us." A female voice said. Percy didn't recognize that voice, but through the process of deduction, he could only guess that it was the other name that popped up. Hazel Levesque. "And nice to meet you guys. We're here to help."

"Because Frank told us to," A voice said. This time, it was a familiar voice. Percy had heard her voice a long time ago. Reyna's name was added to the party list. "Plus, this looks like a fun raid. Oh, and I found your friend outside waiting to get in."

"Hey Percy," Jason's voice said through the voice communication.

"Jason?" Thalia asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Just figured I should help." He said. "Piper's here with me as well."

Piper's name popped into his party list. That makes twelve of them in a party.

"Guys," Percy said to get everyone's attention. "You guys need to retreat. This isn't just a game. If you die here, then you're gonna die for real. It's gonna be permanent."

There was a long silence after that. Kampe roared at them. She's neutral now, waiting for them to act.

"Well," Annabeth said. "Let's just not die then."

"That's more like it," Leo said as he blasted Kampe with more fire spells.

"For god's sake, Leo!" Percy saw Frank move past Percy in a blur as he jumped in front of Kampe, a huge shield in hand. Frank let out a War Cry, making the monster focus all attacks on him.

"You crazy sons of bitches." Percy said. "Charge!"

* * *

 **A/N: That was a long chapter. Almost 5k. Wow. Got immersed while writing it. As you can tell, it's getting close to the end. Don't worry. A sequel is planned for this. Buuuuutttt ….. Who's gonna make it to the sequel? Ooooohhhh. Stay tuned.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Yeah. Sorry about the delay. I had a rough week. I was away for a while to attend my uncle's wedding. When I got back, I got sick and food poisoning. So…. Yeah. Don't worry. I'm not dead. I'm getting better. Slightly. And I'm sorry for not updating. :D**

 **RED2017: I don't want to make it like mega super long because I tend to get too carried away with it. So, we'll see.**

 **Alex Focker: I know :D**

 **Quihi: Trust me when I say I suck at it. I'm not good with description, so that may have been as to this. Whenever I wrote action scenes, I had to read it like fifteen times to make sure their movements made sense. Even then, sometimes it doesn't. But hey, glad you enjoyed it!**

 **Unicorn horn powder: Thanks!**

 **Theunwillingtraveler: Meh. One day ;)**

 **Ilovedragons2014: Take a wild guess ;D**

 **With that being said, after my brief toilet break, let's surge onwards!**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

Just so we don't get confused, let's do a head count.

For Tanks, they have Thalia and Frank – the two Vanguard class.

For Supports, They have Annabeth, Piper, and Hazel.

For Magic damages, they have Leo and Nico.

Percy, Artemis, Jason, Luke, and Reyna are their damage dealers.

And they're facing against one of the strongest World Bosses in the game.

 _Such valiant efforts,_ the Hacker's voice echoed through the Colosseum. _If you fail, maybe I will spare everyone in this place._

Frank and Thalia reached Kampe first, as Tanks should. Annabeth was their captain, something that no one argued against. They knew her skills and abilities as a captain. They trusted her.

"Leo, Nico," Annabeth said through the voice chat. "Keep up a sustained amount of DPS towards Kampe." She said as she cast a spell that inflicts Slow on Kampe. As the name suggest, the status effects makes the target's movement slow.

"I don't have that much Mana to work with," Leo grunted as he unleashed a fireball.

"Well if you hadn't used spells that consume a buttload of Mana, you wouldn't have that problem," Hazel argued with him as she casts a buff on Thalia and Frank that reduces any damage dealt towards them.

Hazel's class is a Priest. Out of all the supporting class, Priests can heal the most amount in the shortest time. They have Burst Healing, which meant they can restore your health by a certain amount in an instant compared to Druid and Enchanter who has regeneration healing. They also have no real impact offensively as their job is to tighten up a team's defences with buffs and heals.

"Hey, they do the most damage," Leo grinned. "Watch this." Leo lit his hand on fire and unleashed a torrent of flames straight at Kampe. Although the heat from his spell could've melted most metal like butter, Kampe stood there unfazed as her Health Bar barely decreased.

"I'll handle the Mana problem." Annabeth said calmly. "Artemis, keep firing at Kampe. Don't stop for a second."

"What do you think I'm doing?" Artemis grumbled as she fired arrow after arrow.

Kampe hissed at Frank, who still has Kampe's aggro. She was going at Frank with a flurry of attacks with her scimitars, each one bounced harmlessly against Frank's shield. But with each strike, Percy see Frank's health bar getting chewed off bit by bit.

Percy, Jason, Luke and Reyna went to work. Percy switched to a giant warhammer before jumping and smashing it with such ferocity onto Kampe's scorpion tail that Thor himself would've been proud. Kampe screeched in anger as her tail whipped at Percy.

Percy jumped while the rest of the damage dealers ducked. Jason started to chop viper heads off of Kampe's legs one at a time while Reyna and Luke were busy poking and stabbing at Kampe's sides.

"Switch Tanks!" Annabeth ordered. Frank stepped back as Thalia moved in front of Kampe, poking her repeatedly with her spear. "Piper, heal Frank will you? And Hazel, focus your buffs on Thalia."

They did as they were told. Nico and Leo were doing their job by dealing damage from far away, along with Artemis. Kampe looked like she was being overwhelmed.

Percy grinned as he swung his hammer at Kampe's backside, making her back arch in pain. In retort, the wolf on Kampe's waist lashed out at him, almost biting his face in half.

Luckily, Reyna pulled him away just in time. "Stay focused," She said simply before disappearing, Assassin-style. When she reappeared, her dagger was embedded on one of Kampe's wing before she disappeared again.

Percy looked at Kampe's Health Bar. All kinds of status effects were lined up above her health bar. Now that they were dealing some bits of damage, her health bar was going down at a steady rate.

"Root's gonna be up in fifteen seconds." Annabeth said. "Everybody keep your distance and lower the damage. Hazel, focus your heals on Thalia."

"Noted," Hazel said as she cast healing spells at Thalia. While Kampe was attacking Thalia at an absurd rate, which was draining her Health Bar rapidly, Hazel countered with a number of heals as well. Thalia's Health Bar was going up and down at a ridiculous pace.

"Artemis, got your Powershot?" Annabeth said as she applied a Damage Increase buff to everyone.

"Three seconds," Artemis said.

"Use it as soon as you can." Annabeth said. "Leo, save your Mana for Explosion. We're gonna blow Kampe all the way to her Second Phase after this."

"You got it!" Leo said as he attacked with a smaller scale spell.

Kampe was now covering herself with her wings, trying to block out all the damage. Her scorpion tail was still going wild, chasing after Percy and the other damage dealers. They were just slashing and stabbing at Kampe whenever they got the chance. While most attacks bounced off of her, some managed to wound her. They try not to draw in too much aggro away from the Tanks.

"That tail is so annoying," Luke grunted. "Can we just cut it?"

"Be my guest," Percy said.

"Powershot, incoming." Artemis said as she let loose an arrow that seemed to bend the air around it as it travelled from Artemis's bow all the way through Kampe's wings, tearing a hole through it. It was the same arrow Percy saw she used when she'd fought the Hydra. Kampe roared in pain as she whipped her head towards where the arrow came from, but Frank stepped in front of Kampe, standing in front of her way.

"Root in twelve seconds." Annabeth said. "Nico, use Poison on her."

Nico grunted. "Not enough Mana."

Annabeth cursed. Percy took his time to scan the situation. Percy, Jason, Reyna, and Luke were busy with Kampe's scorpion tail. Thalia and Frank are holding onto Kampe's attention, switching regularly to avoid each of them taking too much damage.

Hazel and Piper are keeping their health up with heals and buffs. Artemis, Nico and Leo are doing bits from the distance while Annabeth is doing her best to make sure the team doesn't fall apart.

"Piper, do you have your Root?" Annabeth asked.

"In twenty seconds." She said. "But I won't have Mana to heal with if I use it."

"I'll give you mine." Annabeth said as she transferred her Mana towards Piper. From Percy's UI, he could see Annabeth's Mana Bar lowering while Piper's increase. "Use your Root as soon as you have it."

Annabeth inflicted Poison onto Kampe, which nicks at Kampe's Health Bar bit by bit as well as slowing her down. "Reyna, you guys up the damage."

"Trying to," Reyna said. "This tail is annoying." On cue, the tail curled up and was going to pierce Jason. Luke rushed quickly and tackled Jason out of the way, but the stinger hit his leg.

Luke growled in pain as he cursed in fifteen different ways. Percy noticed that Luke was now inflicted with Cripple. He can do actions, but he just can't move.

"Luke!" Jason went to his side. "Are you okay?"

"Does it look like I'm okay?" Luke growled. Percy stepped in front of them just in time to parry the scorpion sting again. "I can't continue. I'll be dead weight around here. Move me further away."

"I'll move him," Jason offered. He looked at Percy. "Can you and Reyna deal with Kampe for a sec?"

"Maybe," Percy grunted as he parried another scorpion sting. Even though Kampe has her eyes on the Tanks, her scorpion tail seems to have a mind of its own as it's going for Percy and the others.

"I'll be back soon," Jason said as he dragged Luke away from the battlefield.

"Well, we're one man down." Artemis said as she fired three arrows at once. "Any suggestions?"

"We're gonna get our chance." Annabeth said. "Piper, how long until your Root is up?"

"Eight seconds."

"Everyone on standby," Annabeth said. "On my cue, unleash hell."

"I thought we already are unleashing hell." Thalia panted.

"Well, we're unleashing even more." Annabeth said. "Leo, can you freeze the scorpion tail?"

"You know I don't do ice spells." Leo said.

"Leo!"

"Fine." Leo grumbled. Unlike his fire spells, he looked unenthusiastic about using an ice spell. The stinger part of the scorpion tail was soon encased in a block of ice. Percy and Reyna went to work on the tail.

"Use blunt weapons for the tail." Percy said as he switched to a massive wooden club. He slammed it down onto right where the dragon body meets the tail. Percy took pleasure on hearing that sickening _crunch_ sound.

"Root in four seconds," Piper said.

Reyna used a warhammer and delivered a blow onto Kampe's tail as well.

The monster screeched in pain as the body of the tail wiggled and tried to move, but it was being held back by the block of ice stuck at the end of her tail.

"Everybody get ready!" Annabeth said. Piper then used Root.

Now Percy understood what Annabeth meant by unleashing hell.

Reminiscent to the day when Percy fought the Hydra, Kampe was bombarded with all kinds of attacks. Percy and Reyna slashed and hack at Kampe as she just roared in pain, restrained from moving.

Annabeth, Piper and Hazel applied buffs to everyone and debuffs to Kampe, increasing their damage output. Artemis was firing shot after shot after shot.

In Percy opinion, Nico and Leo did the most damage.

Leo kept bombarding Kampe with fireballs while Nico fired beams of energy repeatedly, each one draining Kampe's health bit by bit. Her Health Bar was slowly reaching the halfway point.

"Leo!" Annabeth said. "Use Explosion now!"

"Been waiting for that." Leo said. "Everyone back out!"

They did as they were told as Leo charged towards Kampe, his whole body was now in flames. "Explosion!" He shouted as his body let out an explosion that would've blinded Percy if he didn't look away in time.

Explosion was an ability that's exclusive to a Sorcerer. When used, it will let out a massive explosion that can deal a shit ton of damage to everyone in the surrounding area. The catch is that it will drain all your Mana and Health to one percent. So it's like a last resort move, Kamikaze style. And when the spell damages everyone, it means _everyone_. Including teammates.

"Hazel, heal him." Annabeth said as the dust cleared. Leo was laying on the grass next to Kampe, looking almost lifeless. Luckily, Annabeth had put a barrier in front of each of them so that the spell wouldn't damage them. Leo's body was steaming and his Health Bar was at one percent. One attack from Kampe, and it'll be over for Leo.

But Hazel was quick on the heal as she just sighed and healed Leo up. It seems like she was used to this and it was a normal behaviour for Leo to go full on Kamikaze mode.

"I'll get him," Frank said. "He's not gonna be conscious for the rest of the fight."

The rest of the fight? Even after that Explosion, Kampe's still standing?

Sure enough, there she was. Her body was charred and smoking. Percy watched as Kampe's Health Bar slowly closing in towards the halfway point.

She's going to enter her Second Phase.

By now, you must notice a pattern with World Bosses. These Bosses have three stages, depending on their Health Bar. Phase One is when their Health Bar is green. This is the phase where you start fighting it. The Second Phase is when their Health Bar turns yellow, usually if it reaches the halfway point. When a World Boss reaches their Second Phase, they become stronger, faster, and more powerful in general. The Final Phase starts when their Health Bar turns to red, which is always when the World Boss is near death. This is when they're at full power. Most status effects will not work and all damage dealt to them will be reduced. They also become even stronger, making them harder to kill.

"Everyone get ready." Annabeth said. They were now down to ten people left in fighting shape and Kampe's still just in her Second Phase.

"We got this." Nico said. Then, he stared in awe. "Oh shit."

As soon as her Health Bar reached its halfway point, it turned red.

The Final Phase.

"What the – that's bullshit." Percy heard Annabeth said. Apparently, no one has ever seen Kampe below half health. Either it's never been done or the Hacker has altered Kampe's code.

"No, this is how Kampe really is." Piper said. "She doesn't have a Second Phase."

"Well, no use crying over it now." Thalia hefted her shield and ran in front of Kampe.

"Thalia, wait!" Piper tried telling, but it was too late. In a blink of an eye, Kampe swept her now-free tail at Thalia, sending her flying and rolling across the grass like a ragdoll. "Thalia!"

Percy saw that Thalia's Health Bar hasn't reached zero yet, so she's still alive. Thalia grunted in the voice chat. "That didn't go well," She said.

"We have to be careful with this." Piper said. "She's dangerous now."

"As if she wasn't before." Artemis fired an arrow at Kampe. Kampe deflected it with her scimitar and whirled towards Artemis, her eyes flaring with anger. To their surprise, Kampe breathed out a torrent of flames straight at Artemis, who narrowly dodges it. "Holy shit!" She shouted as she rolled out of the way.

Kampe was being more aggressive. On top of that, she's gotten faster. "We can't make reckless moves." Annabeth said. "Frank, as soon as you get in range, go full defensive. Hazel and I will cover you."

"Got it." Frank sounded nervous, but he surged forward towards Kampe. As soon as he was close enough, Kampe snarled at him. Frank took it as his cue and raised his shield up. Kampe brought down both scimitars at him, meeting his shield. Percy hear Frank grunt under the pressure. "She's strong." Frank struggled.

"Hazel, focus your healing on him." Annabeth said while she applied buffs to Frank. Hazel was healing as best as she could, but Kampe was dealing a lot more damage than Hazel could heal.

"I can't do better than this," Hazel said. Frank's health was getting dangerously low. Thalia was still in a daze with Piper treating on her. Nico and Artemis are trying their best to get Kampe's attention towards them, but to no avail. Annabeth was barking out commands on what to do, but there was nothing they could do. Kampe was too strong. They were going to lose this fight.

Percy decided to act. He's not going to let his friends die.

"Percy, stay back!" Annabeth shouted but he ignored her as Percy rushed forward. He could feel the items he's wearing helping him.

"Frank, get ready to switch." Percy said. "Hazel, as soon as we switch, keep your heal on me."

"What are you –" Before Hazel could say anything, Kampe screeched. Percy could see Kampe about to blow fire from her mouth again.

"Silence her!" Percy shouted. Annabeth was the first to act as she casted Silence onto Kampe just in time as nothing came out of her mouth (that sounded so wrong).

Silence is a status effect that makes the target unable to cast magic for a certain amount of time.

"Frank, switch now!" Percy said. Frank nodded and pushed Kampe back before he stepped back. Percy moved in Frank's spot. Percy used a shield to block the swipe of Kampe's scimitar before ducking under the swipe of another one. "Artemis! Keep firing!"

"I know!" Artemis said as she fired arrow after arrow.

"Nico, I hope you're not sleeping." Percy called out.

"Guess again, doofus," Nico said. He summoned a green Anaconda the length of two school bus that slithered out and wrapped itself against Kampe's tail, restricting her movements slightly.

Kampe wailed as she thrashed, trying to remove the reptile away from her body. Percy stabbed and poked at Kampe where he can. Kampe was good at doing several things at once as she tried getting rid of the Anaconda while dealing with Percy at the same time.

"Piper!" Percy asked as he leaned sideways to avoid getting stabbed in the face. "How long until you have your heal?"

"Five seconds."

"Use it on Frank." Percy said. "Thalia!"

"I'm coming!" Thalia said as Percy heard footsteps running behind him. Percy rolled under Kampe's scimitar and stabbed at her morphing waist. Kampe wailed in pain as Percy switched weapons to a mace and smacked Kampe's ribs with it. Kampe swept Percy aside with her dragon wings, sending him rolling onto the grass.

Kampe was fast as she was already on the move, ready to kill Percy. But Thalia made it just in time to intercept Kampe's scimitar, but she grunted under the force of it.

"Damn," Thalia grunted. "She's strong."

Percy wasted no time in getting up and started slashing and hacking at Kampe. "Reyna," Percy called. "Little help?"

"I'm doing it," She grunted as she stabbed her daggers in multiple areas around Kampe's body. Since Nico's anaconda was keeping her tail restrained, they had one less thing to worry about.

"Hazel!" Percy shouted.

"I know, I know!" Hazel said as she healed Thalia. Percy's health was dangerously low as well. "But you need healing as well!"

"Heal him!" Artemis said.

"No!" Percy argued. "Save it for the Tanks." He ran forward towards Kampe.

"Stay back then!" Annabeth argued. "Your health is low!"

Percy ignored them. "Artemis, Powershot." Percy said.

"Thirteen seconds." Artemis said.

"Aim all your attacks on the head!" Percy said. Percy switched to a sword. He ran past Frank who was trying to get Kampe's attention. He slid under Kampe's scimitar as she slices at Thalia. Percy planted his foot on the ground and lunged sideways, to Kampe's side.

"Percy, you're too close!" Annabeth said. "Stand back!"

Percy couldn't hear her, to be honest. Everything was going in a blur. Percy climbed onto Kampe's back, grabbing her wings as he did so.

Kampe noticed this and flapped her wings, trying to get Percy off of her.

"Get her attention!" Percy said. Thalia and Frank joined forces to make sure Kampe's eyes are on them. Percy then continued climbing on her back. The animal heads on her waists were snapping at him, but Nico kept firing beams of energy at them to keep them at bay.

Percy's feet was now propped against the wings, her head was directly in front of Percy. Hazel, Piper and Annabeth were shouting at him to retreat. Their Mana was too low to heal him and the Tanks at the same time.

Percy could only hear Artemis's voice. "Percy, please."

Percy took a deep breath. "Don't miss." He said towards Artemis. "I love you."

He raised his sword, ready for the kill. But his arms wouldn't move. His body wouldn't move. Kampe's head was right there in front of him. Percy lost balanced as he dropped to the ground in a thud. He looked at his Health Bar to see a familiar symbol.

Paralysis.

Kampe couldn't have paralysed him. No one could. Except . . .

The Hacker grabbed Percy by the neck and lifted him up. He could hear his friends calling out his name.

"Pathetic," The Hacker said. "All that effort just to fail." He tightened his grip around Percy's neck. "And now, you will die."

Kampe whirled around and stabbed at Percy's back with her scimitar. The pain was excruciating as Percy screamed internally. Percy had never felt anything like it before. If he could scream, he would've been screaming at the top of his lungs. He could feel a tear sliding down his eye. His Health Bar decreasing towards zero.

He was starting to black out. This was the end of the road for him. As his health goes empty, his vision fades. Just before it fades completely, he counted.

She said thirteen seconds. It's been ten seconds since.

Three.

Two.

One.

Percy could faintly see Artemis's Powershot going through the Hacker's head just before the world around him turned dark.

* * *

 **A/N: Have fun!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Your pain feeds me. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Nah I'm just joking. To spare all of you the suspense and the cliffhangers, I present to you this chapter.**

 **Zayden StormVoid: Ah, you're back! And, Muahahahaha! On a real, I always enjoy reading your reviews. And if it makes you feel better, I'm in the middle of the uni life as well. So, we're more or less the same. Goodluck and thanks for reading!**

 **RainSoL: Then mission accomplished. :D But nah. I'll give you guys a treat with a fast update.**

 **Dinklebergsc3: That's mean.**

 **Kenneth: Thanks! I'm feeling much better now.**

 **LordAlces: Aha!**

 **RED2017: Wink wink.**

 **I have a bottle of Pepsi by my side and I'm ready to write. Onwards!**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

 **Slight Flashback in the timeline.**

Percy and Artemis were in the Rebellion's guest room. Artemis was sleeping soundly on bed while Percy was up. He sat on one of the chairs facing the window with his legs propped against it.

It was the middle of the night and it was raining. Percy was nervous about facing the Hacker at the Rookie Showcase. This wasn't just a game anymore. This concerns almost everyone that uses Olympia. It concerns the world. The Hacker had been targetting the showcase for who knows what.

Percy stared outside the window as his thoughts run wild. Even if they find the Hacker, can they kill him?

"Percy?" Artemis called from the bed. "Are you still up?"

Percy looked back and smiled. Artemis's beauty never fails to catch Percy by surprise. Her auburn hair was a mess, but in a cute way. She looked half asleep. Her shirt hanged loosely on her shoulders. "Yeah. I couldn't sleep."

Artemis got up, straightened her hair and shirt before walking towards Percy and hugging him from behind. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know." Percy admitted. He didn't want to say he felt scared, because he wasn't. But he did feel . . . agitated. "I'm just a bit nervous."

Artemis wrapped her arms around Percy's neck gently as she rested her face on his neck. "It's gonna be fine." Artemis said. "We're gonna get through this."

Percy smiled slightly as he kissed her hand. A really bad thought went across her head. What if Percy die during this? Moreover, what if Artemis dies?

"Arty," Percy said softly. "Can you promise me something?"

"Anything." Artemis said.

"If you have a shot," Percy said. "Don't miss."

Artemis was confused by his statement, but she didn't ask. "I never miss," Artemis assured him.

"Good to know," Percy said with a smile.

 **Present Time**

Percy was surrounded by darkness. The memory of what happened came back in a flash.

The Hacker got him. He'd managed to kill him.

But the plan worked. Artemis had her shot. It was down to either shooting Kampe or the Hacker, and she fulfilled her promise. Even though Percy was the cost of it, the others were safe.

It was worth it.

Then he woke up.

Percy sat straight up, which was a mistake because it sent all kinds of pain down his body. He grunted in pain as his vision got fuzzy.

"Easy there," A female voice next to him. "Take it slow."

The pain on his head subsided as his vision cleared. It was Annabeth. "Annie?"

"I should knock you to next week." Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Feeling better?"

"Where are we?" Percy asked.

"The hospital."

"Artemis." Percy muttered. "Where is she? Is she –"

"She's fine," Annabeth said as she leaned back on her chair. "You gave us quite the scare though. I thought Artemis was going to gut that poor kid in the chest."

"Wait, poor kid?"

Annabeth chuckled. "We kinda sorta maybe caught the Hacker. Or someone who works for him apparently."

"Who is it?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Ethan Nakamura. Ring any bells?"

Percy shook his head. "Never heard of him."

"None of us has." Annabeth continued. "But he works for the Hacker and he's responsible for everything that happened in the Colosseum. He assumes the Hacker's persona under the order of his 'Master'."

"Master?"

"Again, I don't know." Annabeth said.

"Can you explain this in the correct order?"

Annabeth groaned. "You're annoying, Seaweed Brain."

 **Line Break**

Apparently, things were pretty straightforward after Artemis shot the Hacker, or Ethan, whatever his name was. The Hacker's projection collapsed on the spot and they tracked him down to an out of town area, where he was still sprawled on the floor, unconscious. They took him into police custody, where he was interrogated.

This 'Hacker' identity isn't just one person. They were a group. He was working for someone else in that group who's like their boss or something. They plan on taking over Olympia for reasons unknown. It was assumed that he wasn't the only one working for the boss of this Hacker identity that he called Master.

Then, everything went surprisingly well. The Rookie Showcase was postponed, of course. Everybody was shaken up. People that were paralysed in the Colosseum were safely evacuated and there were no casualties. The worst they had to deal with were minor injuries.

"Of course, the lawsuits were problematic as well." Annabeth finished. "But I doubt Olympia would have any problems with that since they're filthy rich."

Percy nodded. He stared off into the wall, wondering how the heck he was still alive. He should've been dead. He felt that pain went straight through his heart.

"Yeah, we're wondering that too." Annabeth asked as if she's reading his mind. "You were confirmed dead for like two minutes, which was really cutting it close." She said. "Any longer and I doubt you'd be here again."

"I came back?" Percy asked. "How?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Maybe there was a glitch in the Olympia system? Maybe the Hacker was just full of shit? I don't know." She stood up and stepped closer to Percy. "I'm glad that you made it." She kissed his forehead and leaned near his ear. "But if you do something like that again, I will personally kill you myself."

Percy gulped. "Consider me warned."

Annabeth stood up straight with a satisfied look on her face. "Now get some rest. You were passed out for almost a week."

"You don't say," Percy said, taking note of the pain on his joints for not moving so long. "Well, thank you for taking care of me."

"We took turns." Annabeth said. "Artemis was here most of the time. She should be here any minute." On cue, there was a knock on the door. "And that's my cue. Take care, Percy."

Percy smiled at her as she exited the room. As soon as she left, the door swung open again revealing Artemis. She looked like she barely had any sleep. But when she saw Percy, her eyes lit up.

"Hey," Percy smiled at her. Artemis stormed straight at Percy and slapped him. "Ow! What was that –" Percy was silenced by Artemis crashing her lips against his.

When they finally pulled away from each other, Artemis had tears streaming down her cheeks. "Perseus Jackson, if you ever do something like that ever again . . ."

Percy had the nerve to chuckle. "Never again." Percy promised as he wrapped his hands around her and pulled her in for another kiss.

 **Line Break**

It took a few more days before the hospital decided that Percy was okay enough to leave. In that time, many of his friends came to visit him.

Frank came in with his team, Leo and Hazel. He properly introduced Percy to both of them. He found Leo to be annoying at first, but he grew into Percy real fast. Hazel was slightly creepy, but she was also quirky in her own way. They were glad that Percy was okay and was hoping that Percy would join the Flamers. Percy just said, "I'll think about it."

Then, Jason and Thalia visited him along with Hestia. Thalia and Jason was glad that Percy was somehow alive. Hestia brought some of her home cooked meals, which he was excited about.

"Oh, Percy." Thalia said before they left. "There's something off about Luke."

"What do you mean?"

Thalia scratched the back of her head. "I don't know how to explain it. He seemed . . . bitter. After we won, he didn't look like he wanted to celebrate or anything."

Percy didn't think to much about it because he was still getting over the fact that he was still alive. "I'm sure he'll be fine. I'll talk to him after."

"Thalia, we're leaving!" Jason called outside.

"Coming!" She answered. "Well, I'll see you soon. I'm still waiting on that rematch."

Percy smiled at her as she exited the room. The next ones to visit Percy was Reyna, Nico, and Piper. The one he was surprised to see was Reyna.

"I can't say that I'm not surprised," Percy said after seeing her.

"She wanted to visit you for a while," Piper grinned. "But she didn't want to do it alone. So I decided to bring her along."

Reyna blushed. "I just wanted to see how he's doing." Reyna argued. "And it seems that you're doing fine, I guess. And that concludes my business here." She turned her heel and walked out of the room.

Piper and Nico chuckled. "She just wants to see how are you doing," Piper said. "She admires you, you know. Putting your life on the line like that."

"Yeah, I don't feel like doing it again any time soon." Percy admitted.

"You do kick ass though," Nico added.

"True say," Percy chuckled. "So, what about you guys? What are you going to do now?"

"Well, Olympia still needs the Rebellion. We don't know what other threats that are out there." Nico said. "After Beckendorf and Silena . . ." Nico sighed. "Let's just say, we're planning on making things better.

"Nico and I will start building from scratch. Thalia will be our first recruit, of course." Piper said.

Percy threw his hands up in exasperation. "She gets into a team before I did. That's not fair."

"She is a lot better than you," Nico smirked.

"No she's not."

"That's not what she told me."

"I think that's enough." Piper interfered. "We have to go now."

Nico chuckled. "Oh, by the way, your fa – um, Mr. Don said he'd left you a message. Thought you should know."

"We'll see you soon, Percy." Piper said before they exited the room.

He was glad that he had such wonderful friends. He was glad he had Artemis. And somehow, he was glad that his dad had given some sort of attention towards him.

But none of that answered his question. Why was he alive?

Percy could remember that cold chill down his spine when his death was coming. He was even confirmed dead for a few minutes.

While Percy would like to believe that the Hacker was just bluffing about it, he knew that wasn't the case. Something had brought him back.

And he was going to find out what.

 **Line Break**

When it was time for Percy to leave the hospital, Artemis was there to pick him up. She was waiting inside a silver Audi with a convertible rooftop. When she saw Percy, she smiled and got out of the car.

"You still remember how to drive, don't you?" Artemis asked as she pecked him on the cheek.

"Maybe," Percy said with a smile. They both got in the car. Percy went in the driver's seat while Artemis sat next to him.

"Where to?"

Percy's expression turned serious for a second. "I'm going to see Ethan Nakamura."

 **Line Break**

They went to a place called a Detention Centre. Olympia built this place for players who cheated, violated the rules, and used Olympia for bad purposes. It's kind of like a jail-slash-rehabilitation centre.

"You really want to meet him?" Artemis said with displeasure. "He almost killed you."

"He _did_ kill me." Percy said. "I just want to know how."

The officer in charge led them to Ethan's cell. "This guys is a pretty high profile one." The officer warned. "Be careful if you're in there."

"Noted," Percy said as he opened the door to the cell. Inside, there was no opening except for the steel grate above them. A single hanging bulb was their only source of light in the room. Aside from a mattress on the floor, a sink, and a toilet, there was nothing else in the room.

Well, except for its occupant.

"I assume you're Ethan?" Percy asked.

The boy was Asian and looked no older than sixteen. He had black hair with a slim and wiry build. One feature Percy noticed almost immediately was a black eye patch over his left eye.

"Ah, Perseus Jackson." Ethan said with a grin. "Such a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

Percy could feel Artemis gripping his hand tighter. She didn't like being here, but Percy had to know. "Wait outside," Percy said to Artemis.

Artemis shook her head. "I'm staying here with you."

"Please," Percy said. "Just this once."

Artemis looked like she wanted to argue, but she knew that Percy wasn't going to have no for an answer. "Fine." She said finally. "But if I sense something's wrong, I'm coming here with everyone." She said loud enough for even Ethan to hear before she exited the cell.

Percy turned towards Ethan. "I'm guessing you're here to get some more information from me?" Ethan said. "Alas, I could not do such thing. My Master has limited the number of information he gave me, because he's clever that way."

"Your Master," Percy repeated. "Who is he?"

Ethan sucked his teeth as he wagged his finger. "Tch, tch, tch." Ethan said. "Where's the fun in that?"

"How did you kill me?" Percy said. "They say that you were bluffing, or that Olympia was glitched at the time. We both know that's not true."

"That you are correct, Percy." Ethan grinned. "I did kill you. I did so through Olympia. You were dead."

"How?"

"Interesting, isn't it?" Ethan said as he stood up from his mattress. "How is it that a mere game can end your life _just_ like that?" Ethan snapped his fingers at the word _just_.

"Tell me." Percy growled. "Or I'll make sure you'll suffer."

Ethan howled in laughter. "Me? Suffer?" He grinned evilly at Percy. "I think I've suffered enough."

Percy gritted his teeth. He wasn't getting anything from this guy. "I'll ask one more time. How did you kill me?"

Ethan sighed as he shook his head. "As the son of Olympia's creator, you really know nothing." At the mention of him being Poseidon's son, Percy tensed. "I guess Daddy didn't tell you everything, did he?"

Was Poseidon hiding something from him? He'll have to confront him about it later. "I hope you rot in here." Percy said.

"Ah, but my time here is limited." Ethan crashed down to his mattress. "Soon, Olympia will be under our control. There's nothing that you, your friends, or even your father can do about it." Then Ethan started to sing in Latin. Percy doubt he would get anything else from him after that, so he left.

Artemis met him with a look of worry. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Percy lied. Artemis saw it as well. Percy looked shaken up. "I'm good."

"Then let's get out of here." Artemis said. "I missed Hestia's cooking."

 **Line Break**

After an amazing day with Artemis at the Orphanage, Percy headed home. It felt like so long ago since he'd last slept on his own bed. He crashed onto his bed and let out a contented sigh.

Percy took out his AR Glasses. He felt nervous about putting it on, even though most of his friends say that it's okay. Percy put the AR Glasses on.

He had a ton of new notifications. Most of them were emails from his friends, asking whether he's okay or not. Some were friend requests from his new friends.

Percy scrolled through the Olympia News website. He read headline after headline.

* * *

 _Rookie Showcase invaded! Is Olympia still safe?_

* * *

 _Rookie Showcase postponed until further notice._

* * *

 _Rookie Showcase Wildcard Percy Jackson saves the day!_

* * *

 _Star Studded Lineup Saved Hundreds._

* * *

 _A New All Star Team?_

* * *

 _Massive Attack on Rookie Showcase. Olympia to Blame?_

* * *

He wasn't going to read all of it. He didn't care. He was just happy that everything turned out well.

Well, kinda.

Percy noticed an unread email in his inbox.

* * *

 _To: Percy_

 _From: null_

 _Only once, Perseus. After this, I can no longer help you. Stay safe._

 _P.S. This will help you understand._

* * *

Even though the sender had no name, he knew it was Poseidon. Somehow, Percy felt grateful that Poseidon's been watching him.

But what did he mean by only once?

Attached to the email was a link with a label:

* * *

 _ **CUT CONTENT**_

 _ **CONFIDENTIAL**_

* * *

"What the heck . . ." Percy wanted to open it, but he hesitated. What if it was a virus? What if it's some sort of trigger to make his Glasses explode?

He calmed himself down. He was getting paranoid.

Percy opened the link. It opened into a series of files with various labels.

"Classes . . . Spells . . . Items . . ." Percy read each label one by one. When he opened each file, it was filled with information that Percy wasn't familiar with.

* * *

Spell: Chilling Touch

Effect: Chill target to the bone. Slows down movement and speed. May inflict Freeze.

* * *

Class: Arch Angel

Description: Capable of dealing high amounts of burst damage while healing itself at the same time.

* * *

Item: Styx Water

Effect: Grants invincibility for a set duration, but drains health within use including excruciating pain.

* * *

The more Percy read, the more he realized what he was reading about. He now understood how Ethan had the ability to kill him and did what he did. He knew how he was brought back to life.

This was Olympia's cut content. They are things that's programmed in Olympia, but never made it to the official game. They can't be found in the public domain of the game, where most of the players are in. They can't be conjured into the game, at least not without proper abilities.

All of the stuff that Percy read was stupidly overpowered and ridiculous. Olympia had been a balanced game where no one had an edge if they pick a certain class or used a certain item. Everyone was equal with only their skills as a player put to the test.

Some of these cut contents are just too ridiculous that Percy was surprised someone even thought about it. Like the spell Boiling Blood. It literally makes someone feel like their blood is actually boiling, which isn't something Percy look forward in doing so.

As he scrolled through everything, one caught his eye. The pieces fell in together as soon as he saw the spell. Someone else aside from the Hacker and Percy knew about this cut content.

* * *

Spell: Resurrection.

Effect: Resurrects a dead teammate. Only works within three minutes of death.

* * *

 **A/N: It's a bit . . . anti-climatic. I know. In my defence, I can't end things well. It's a habit of mine. The Rookie Showcase arc is almost done. There's two more chapters after this that sets up the sequel. So, we're going to wait for that. Nevertheless I hope you enjoyed this, even though it's pretty shit. And I'll see you guys soon.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Got some free time. So yeah.**

 **Zayden StormVoid: As always, your reviews are amazing to read. And don't worry. I understand that you can be busy sometimes. Just take care :D**

 **unicorn horn powder: Thanks!**

 **Ilovedragons2014: Thanks!**

 **Luisfilipe032: Godammit I was hoping no one would notice. Well, you got me. I'll change it someday later.**

 **Onwards!**

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

Percy sat in the Orphanage living room alone, contemplating on whether he should tell the others or not. This was some serious info. It's been a week since Percy got that email and he hadn't had a good night sleep Hacker group found out about it and are exploiting it.

But not only them.

During their showdown with Kampe, someone else had used a spell from the Cut Content of Olympia to bring him back to life.

It sounds more ridiculous the more Percy thought about it. If Olympia could kill people, could Olympia also revive someone? It sounds crazy, but there was no other explanation.

Olympia made Percy's brain think that it was dead. It legit stopped functioning for two minutes. Then something jumpstarted Percy's brain into life.

Was Olympia really that great of a machine? This was beyond human nature. It's almost as if Olympia was made by gods.

The Orphanage was unusually quiet. It was mainly because Thalia and Jason had left. Thalia had joined up with the Rebellion while Jason was in a recruitment process with the Reyna's team, the Roman Legion. He hoped the best for the two, but he was a bit worried about Thalia. After seeing something so brutal at an early age, it wasn't good for her.

The rest of his friends were doing somewhat well. Piper and Nico were rebuilding the Rebellion. Artemis was busy with the Hunt. Annabeth was also busy with her team, Minerva.

Frank had contacted Percy to ask him to join his team, but Percy figured it was too soon. Leo sounds excited, considering he's still recovering from his injuries during the fight at the Colosseum.

The chase for Percy's head had stopped, since all of them saw Percy and his friends trying to stop the Hacker from killing everyone. That was one less thing to worry about, since getting chased around by people after his head wasn't fun. The Rookie Showcase was going to be held again in the nearest time, but there's no telling when. Poseidon has issued a statement that Olympia was going to be upgraded and security was going to be tripled.

Even with that kind of promise, people doubted his words. As far as they're concern, this was the first time someone had infiltrated Olympia's system and committed an attack like this. Little do they know that the Rebellion had been stopping these attacks for since Olympia had been invented.

But this one was the only one that had reached the public attention.

"Percy, you're going to be late for school." Hestia said behind him. He turned around and smiled.

"You sound like a mother now," Percy said.

"Well, that just enables me to boss you around," Hestia grinned. "Now take this for breakfast and go to school." She handed Percy a brown paper bag.

"Thanks." Percy said as he kissed Hestia on the cheek before running off.

At least some things never change.

 **Line Break**

Percy was on his way to Crimson College when a black SUV stopped right in front of him on the pavement. Percy stopped immediately.

The dark tinted windows at the back seat rolled down to see Nico's face smirking at him. "'Sup?."

"Nico?" Percy said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm giving you an excuse to not go to school." Nico said. "Now get in." Without hesitation, Percy got in the car. Driving the car was Piper and at the front passenger seat was Thalia.

"Hey Percy," Thalia smiled at him.

"How've you been?" Percy asked.

"Better," She grumbled. "Piper and Nico are bullying me."

"Hey, you asked for the brutal training," Piper shrugged as she drove on. "Anyway, it's good to see you Percy."

"Good seeing you too." Percy said. "So, what's this about?"

"Mr. Don was asking for you," Nico explained. "He said that there was something that we needed to see."

"We?" Percy asked. "As in, all of us?" He gestured at all of them.

"Yep," Nico said. "No idea what it is, but it sounded urgent."

Percy wasn't too fancy about meeting his dad again, but he want to meet him. He had questions that needed answers, and Poseidon has all that.

 **Line Break**

By the time they reached the Rebellion HQ, it was surrounded by security personnels. They walked to the front door guarded by two buff dudes that looked like they could rip Percy in half. Luckily, they let them through.

Percy got the chills entering this place again. It brought back some unpleasant and pleasant memories. Percy noticed that Thalia kept glancing at a door that was now boarded up and sealed with a police tape. It was the cafeteria, where Silena and Beckendorf had been . . . removed.

Percy threw those thoughts out of his head as they made their way towards the meeting room, where Poseidon was waiting.

When Percy look at him, Percy felt . . . weird. He still hated him for leaving Percy all alone. But he was kinda grateful that Poseidon has been paying attention to him during the Rookie Showcase incident.

"Ah, please," He gestured at the seats. "Have a seat."

Percy sat the farthest from where his father was sitting. Poseidon just stared at him without saying anything.

"Thank you for coming," Poseidon started.

"No biggie," Nico said with a grin. "So, what's the case, Mr. Don."

Piper smacked Nico's elbow. "Don't be rude."

Poseidon chuckled at their behaviour. "It's okay." Then he turned serious. "The reason I've called you here is to warn you about something."

"What is it?" Piper asked.

"New World Bosses are appearing in Olympia," Poseidon said. "Bosses that no one have seen before. So far, no one is panicking. We disguised the new bosses as a massive update to the game for more content. But if people find out the Bosses are not an Olympia update,"

"They would figure out that Olympia is compromised again," Piper said. "So you want us to find whoever is programming these new bosses into the game?"

Poseidon nodded. "As usual, keep it low. And stay safe."

"We will," Nico said before he stood up. That was a rather brief meeting. Percy stood up as well with the rest of them and started to walk towards the exit.

"Percy," Poseidon called. "A moment, please."

All of them stopped and looked at Percy. "I'll meet you outside," Percy said to his friends. They nodded and left Percy alone with Poseidon. He turned around and faced him. "What?"

"Did you get my message?" Poseidon asked.

Percy nodded. "It was kind of dumb to not delete the files of the Cut Contents of Olympia away from the game."

"The game is my life's work. I can't simply delete everything I've worked on."

Percy snickered. "How's that working out for you?"

Poseidon looked at Percy calmly. "There are people who have the same information as you. There are those who will stop at nothing to get these information. Your life is in danger."

"I can take care of myself." Percy argued.

"You barely won your last fight." Poseidon pointed out. "And that's with some of the best players of Olympia with you."

"Because we were outnumbered." Percy said.

Poseidon snickered. "Wear your Glasses." He said.

"For what?"

"Humour me."

Percy sighed and took out his Glasses and wore them. Poseidon wore a pair as well. He sent a video to Percy's UI. A video of someone facing of Kampe alone. It was something that Percy would've dubbed as suicide. The party that he joined at the Rookie Showcase consists of some of the best players in Olympia. Even then they couldn't beat him. But the more Percy studied the video, he noticed something.

The guy is winning. He was fighting Kampe Solo and he is winning.

But from what Percy saw, he used weapons and spells that Percy had never seen before in Olympia. A brown golem rose from the earth behind the player. It was a figure that was made purely out of earth and rocks, and it stood like seven feet tall.

The golem was mimicking the player's movements. When the player threw a right hook, the golem mimicked it and threw a right hook at Kampe who struggled to block it.

It was evident that Kampe was going to lose this.

The golem then dissolved into a pile of rocks and dirt. Kampe's health was now less than a quarter of her total health. The player used another spell as Kampe charged at him. She screeched with her scimitars ready for the kill.

It all ended when a whirlpool of clouds formed above them. In a flash, Kampe disappeared out of sight. Something yellow had came down from the clouds and grabbed Kampe and pulled her away. It happened in less than a second. If Percy had blinked, he would've missed it.

Heck, he didn't blink and he still missed it.

"What the hell . . ."

"Scylla," Poseidon said. "One of his summons."

"Summons?"

"That's the class he's using." Poseidon explained. "A Summoner. One that could summon creatures to do their bidding."

"There's a class like that in Olympia?"

Poseidon nodded. "It was my brother's idea. He thought it would be a great class. But it was too powerful. It would disrupt the balance of Olympia."

"But that class was taking on Kampe _alone_."

"And if it was on Olympia officially, everyone would be a Summoner." Poseidon said. "Balance has to be kept in Olympia. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a game."

Percy was taken aback by how powerful that class was. And it enabled the player to take on Kampe alone. Something that was really hard to do.

"Why are you showing me this?" Percy asked.

Poseidon did something in his UI. Then, a notification popped up in Percy's Glasses.

* * *

 _ADMINISTRATION ACCESS LEVEL 3 GRANTED_

* * *

"This gives you access to Olympia's game files." Poseidon said. "It uses a retina scan to unlock, so you don't have to worry about switching Glasses. And try to use the Cut Contents discreetly. If people find out about this, I'm going to have to do another press conference and it's a pain."

Percy stared at the notification for a while before it disappears. "Why did you give me this?"

"Because," Poseidon stood up. "Your enemies will have the same advantage as you. This is not to keep you safe. This is to make sure you're on the same level of playing field. They are hackers. They have this information and can use this information against you. You need to be prepared."

Percy stood there for a minute before turning away. "Thanks."

"And don't tell anyone about this." Poseidon warned. "Not even your friends."

"Why?"

"I suspect that there's a spy among us." Poseidon said. "Any of the professional players can be it. I'd suggest you be careful on what you let on around them."

"I trust them." Percy argued. "They're my friends."

"Which makes them the perfect suspects." Poseidon said. "Stay safe, Perseus."

Percy exited the building to find Piper, Thalia and Nico waiting for him outside next to their car. They were apparently were in the middle of a conversation until Percy went out.

"How did it go?" Nico asked.

Percy shrugged. "So, what are you guys doing after this?" Percy asked, trying to change the subject.

They noticed immediately. "Um, we were planning to go the Plaza after this. Thalia wanted to look for a better spear." Piper said.

"It does almost no damage." Thalia grumbled.

"You wanna tag along?" Piper asked.

Percy thought about it for a minute. "It's okay. You guys can go on ahead."

Thalia looked at Percy worryingly. "Are you alright?"

Percy smiled at her. "I'm fine, Thalia. I just need to clear my head."

Nico patted Percy's shoulder. "Hey, if he says he's fine, then he's fine." He gave them a goofy grin. "Now let's go. I don't want to be late or the Obsidian Egg Tarts will be sold out."

That broke the tension as both girls rolled their eyes. "Well, see you later, Percy."

"You know where to find me." Percy said with a smile. They waved goodbye at Percy as they drove off. Percy sighed as he walked back home.

He didn't want to think of his friends as someone who works for the bad guy. None of them seem like they would betray Percy. They'd grown close to Percy.

Percy walked down the street with people glancing at him. They recognized him as that guy who the Hacker was after and who had helped in stopping the Hacker. While most were just staring from far away, some just avoided him. Which was fine by Percy, by the way. He wasn't really keen on talking with other people.

He had a sudden urge to put on his Glasses. Nothing told him to do it, but he suddenly wanted to do it. And so, he did. A notification popped up.

* * *

 _T has invited you to a duel. Will you accept?_

 _Yes No_

* * *

Percy looked around to see who had sent him the invitation. Percy noticed someone leaning at an entrance of an alleyway. He looked about fourteen or fifteen with dark and curly long hair. He gave out an aura that made Percy tense, like the man would jump at Percy at any time.

He was staring right at Percy with his sea green eyes, the same colour as Percy's. He gestured Percy to follow him to the back of the alley. And he followed him.

Sure, you might say. Follow the suspicious kjid to the suspicious place.

The alley led to an off-limits abandoned construction site. There were ruins of unfinished pillars with metal rods sticking out on top of them. The side facing the street was covered in with a metal wall, and the surrounding buildings were draped with white cloths. All in all, it's safe to say that no one was going to be watching them.

"Who are you?" Percy asked.

The kid stretched. "You'll find out soon enough." He said. "So, you ready?"

Percy switched to his combat attire and accepted the duel. The kid, or T, grinned. He switched to a combat attire that was . . . odd. He wore a black tank top along with black sweatpants while being barefoot. His hands were wrapped in white cloth all the way up to the elbow and he was black fingerless leather gloves. He got into a fighting stance.

"You can't be serious." Percy said.

T grinned. "Don't worry. I won't hit you for real." He said. "But it's not going to tickle you."

Percy had never seen this fighting style before. He didn't know any classes that allowed players to attack using their bare hands. T took deep breaths as he concentrated at Percy.

3 . . .

2 . . .

1 . . .

T moved straight at Percy in a blink of an eye, his right arm already going at Percy's face. Percy leaned back and out of reach, but just barely. Percy kicked him away and swung his sword straight for T's chest.

T was quick and nimble as he effortlessly ducked under Percy's swing and closed in the distance on them before punching in the gut.

Percy didn't feel T's fist hit him, but the pain still did which made Percy knees buckle to the ground. Percy let out a wheeze before looking up, only to find T's leg hitting the side of his head.

His ears rang and the world turned into a blur. The side of his head was throbbing with pain as he groaned in pain. He hear T said something, but he was too dazed to hear it.

By the time he was back on his feet, T wasted no time in attack him.

Percy let his instincts kick in as he stepped back from a left hook coming from T. Percy countered with a thrust to T's torso, in which he pushed the blade away with his palm. Percy stuck the blade onto the ground and used the momentum he had to push himself back into balance and attacking with another blade on his other hand. T quickly stepped back, getting out of reach of Percy's sword before closing the distance again.

But Percy was ready this time.

He switched weapons into daggers and made a wild slash at T's chest. He managed to wound T, but he was unfazed as T was going for a quick blow to Percy's face. Percy leaned his head slightly to the side as T's fist narrowly misses him and grazed his shoulder. Percy headbutted T in response.

It didn't do well for both sides as Percy grunted in pain from the headbutt while T staggered backwards, holding his nose.

"You really don't play around, do you?" T asked as he checked if his nose was bleeding. Thankfully, it wasn't. "Fine then." T stepped back a few times before running full speed at Percy.

Percy switched to a massive shield and planted it in front of him as he braced for impact. T leapt and dropkicked Percy's shield, which sent him flying across the floor and into one of the pillars. Percy grunted in pain.

This is ridiculous. How is he that strong? Or is Percy just that weak?

T was coming at him again with a murderous look on his face. Percy rolled out of the way just in time as T dropped into a baseball slide with his feet going at where Percy's head had been. Percy replied by switching to an axe and making a downward cleave at him. If T hadn't been so fast, that would've cut him in half.

T swept his legs underneath Percy, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground. T then grabbed Percy's arm and pulled it right between his legs and yanked it hard, causing Percy to scream in pain.

He had Percy in a cross arm lock.

"Yield?" He asked. Percy tried struggling, but the more he did the painful it was for his arm. The pain almost made him tap out.

Almost.

Percy conjured a mace on his other hand and tried smacking T with it. T's eyes went wide as the grip on Percy's arm went loose and he rolled out of the way. Percy was in pain, but he wasn't going to give T any breathing room.

He ran towards T and tackled him to the ground. T tried elbowing Percy on his back – which hurts, by the way, – but Percy didn't let go. He then sat up and planted his knees on either side of T's arms with a bow in his hands, an arrow already notched and aimed straight for his head.

Without hesitation, Percy fired the arrow straight towards T's head. The attack diminished his health bar straight down to zero and a notification popped up on Percy's Glasses.

* * *

 _You Win!_

* * *

Percy sighed in exhaustion as he get off of T. That was surprisingly intense and was more painful than any duel Percy had ever experienced.

"You really don't let up, do you?" T panted. "That was a nice move, by the way. Most people wouldn't react to that arm lock because they're in so much pain."

"What are you here for anyway?" Percy asked. He demanded answers. This kid had just challenged Percy to a duel without a clear reason. "Do I know you? Are you after me?"

T let out a tired laugh. "You can count this as a recruitment process." T said. "And you've passed with flying colours."

"Recruitment process?" Percy asked. "For what team?"

T sat up. "Before I answer that, let me properly introduce myself." He said as he offered his hand. "My name is Theseus. My class is a Brawler and I'm the co-captain of the Argonauts."

* * *

 **A/N: This surprisingly sets up nicely for the sequel.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Sorry for the very late update. I got caught up in school work. I was always tired when I got back and it drained me so much that I almost slept through the entire of last weekend. Now I'm feeling better and I'm going to write again. Hooray!**

 **Alex Focker: Maybe. ;)**

 **32: Almost.**

 **Oserix: Soon :D**

 **Quihi: Holy shit what a lot of review. Thanks for the thoughts on the chapter. It helps a lot!**

 **Guest: I suck at creating original ideas. Fanfiction was the next best thing.**

 **Onwards!**

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

Theseus brought Percy to their headquarters, which was very secluded in a seemingly empty alleyway. At the end of the narrow alley was a metal door with graffiti and stickers on it with the words 'DO NOT ENTER' posted on the wall above it. Theseus put his hand on the door surface for a second before something clicked and the door swung open.

"Come on in," Theseus said as he entered the building.

The door led to a stairway that went down for at least three stories down. At the bottom, double metal doors stood in their way.

Again, Theseus put his hand on the surface of the door for a second before something clicked and the doors swung open, revealing the Argonauts' HQ.

It was what Percy would consider a 'man-cave'. Or a playroom for grownups. The place was very large and spacious, which made Percy wonder how people hadn't discover this in the first place. It was slightly bigger than a tennis court. The ceiling is painted white with circular recessed lights scattered around, providing enough lighting in the room.

At the opposite end from where Percy stood, there was a wooden staircase leading up to who knows where. On the wooden floor of the room, there was a yellow line that seems to divide the whole room into sections.

"I'll give you a brief tour." Theseus said. "To the right, the dining area," To their right was a kitchen built alongside the corner of the wall along with a bar counter and drinks arranged in a glass shelf. There was also an oval table for people to dine, maybe.

"Fancy," Percy muttered.

"To our left is the relax area." Theseus explained. The walls were lined up with flat screen TVs that could pass as a home theatre and gaming consoles along with bean bag chairs. There were also massage chairs, treadmills, and a few of those all-in-one workout equipments. Facing the TV was a couch/bed that could fit at least five people. "Crash by whenever you feel like it."

The next two sections were fairly simple. One was sectioned off with a glass wall, creating a meeting room, with the standard oval desk surrounded with black leather office chairs. The other one was just a simple wooden stall, and no one was behind the counter.

"If you're wondering about that," Theseus gestured at the empty stall as if he was reading Percy's mind. "That's the Argonauts' shop."

"You have your own shop?"

Theseus just shrugged with a cheeky grin. "We have our privileges." Then, Percy heard footsteps coming from the stairs. A tanned woman came down from the stairs, wearing a cheetah-patterned top that only covered her chest area and matching shorts. She looked like a warrior from ancient times. Her blonde hair was tied into a braid.

"Hey Theseus," The woman said. Then, her gaze dropped onto Percy. "Fresh meat?"

Theseus grinned. "Percy, meet Atalanta." Theseus said.

"Atlanta? Like the city?" Percy asked.

Atalanta laughed. "I get that a lot. Yes, like the city but with an extra vowel." She went towards Percy and offered her hand. "Nice meeting you."

Percy shook her hand. She had a very rough skin, like a rock climber's. "Same here," Percy said.

"Are you bringing him to meet Jason?" Atalanta asked.

The name caught Percy's ear. "Jason's here?"

"You know Jason?" Theseus asked.

"If you're talking about Jason Grace, then yeah. He's a friend of mine." Percy said.

Atalanta and Theseus seemed to breathe out a sigh of relief. "Nope. Wrong Jason." Theseus said. "Come, I'll bring you to him." Then he waved at Atalanta. "I'll see you soon. You still owe me a drink."

"Yeah, yeah," Atalanta grumbled as she exited the building from where Percy and Theseus had come from. Theseus led Percy up the stairs that led to a hallway. The end of the hallway was a floor-to-ceiling window that showed the view of the town, which wasn't possible because they hadn't gone that high up. To the left and right of the walls of the corridor were a series of doors which Percy assumed to be rooms.

"If you decide to stick with us," Theseus explained. "This is where you'll be staying. Guys on the right side and girls on the left. Same with the bathrooms. But the rule doesn't really work with these people. Let's go up one more time."

They climbed the stairs to another floor, which was like the CEO floor for this place. The place was built like a planetarium. The roof was the shape of a dome and the ceiling showed the clearest night sky Percy has ever seen. The stars lit up so brightly that they look like they're there. There was nothing in the room except for a desk and one person sitting behind it, engulfed in his AR Glasses.

Theseus gestured Percy to follow him to the desk. He knocked on it twice as the guy behind the chair snapped back into reality. "You have a visitor, egghead.'

The guy sat up straight and smiled. He had bronze skin cropped but messy hair. His eyes showed intensity, like the need to prove something. He wore what looked like a golden sheepskin rug.

"Hi," He offered his hand. "I'm Jason."

"Um, hi," Percy shook Jason's hand. "I'm Percy Jackson."

"Oh, we know who you are," Jason said. "Have a seat."

Theseus sat next to Percy in front of Jason. Percy did the same. "So, I take it you have some questions."

" _Some,_ might be an understatement," Percy looked around the room. It was surprising how dark the ceiling was and yet how clear Percy could see everything else. "Who are you guys?"

Jason grinned. "Well, we're some of the best players of Olympia," He said it so simply as if it was a well known fact.

"Uh huh," Percy said, clearly not buying it. "I beat him." Percy gestured at Theseus.

"What class did you use?" Jason asked him.

"Brawler," Theseus replied with a grin.

"Bah," Jason spat. "A toddler with a walking stick could've beaten you if you use that class."

Theseus shrugged. "In my defence, I was just testing him."

Jason turned towards Percy. "Like I said. We're the best players of Olympia."

"How come I've never heard of you before?" Percy asked. "I thought Annabeth was the top player right now."

"She's good." Jason acknowledged. "But she still has a lot to learn. And the reason why you haven't heard of us before is because technically, we don't exist." Percy waited for Jason to continue. "We exist for the sole purpose of one thing, protecting Olympia."

Percy frowned. "You know they already have people for that job."

Jason sighed. "The Rebellion is like Olympia's first line of defence. We, on the other hand, are the ones responsible for the ones that they didn't catch." Jason stood up. "You see, the Rebellion has its weakness. And that weakness is exploitable. Enemies sometimes get through. When they do, it's our job to stop them."

"How did you know about the Rebellion?"

"Your dad put us together," Theseus said. "He handpicked almost everyone in here."

Percy never seem to get away from hearing his father's name. "And he ordered you to recruit me?"

"Nope," Jason said with a grin. "I decided that myself."

"And why is that?"

"You have potential, kid." Jason said. "Something that I don't see in other players of Olympia."

"Jason has a knack for sniffing out talents." Theseus said. "And bullshit."

Jason ignored the last comment. "So, I'm offering you a spot in our team. It's a dangerous line of work and you can't tell anyone about this." Jason leaned forward. "Deal?"

 **Line Break**

"So, tell me." Percy sat down in the bar with Atalanta and one of her friends, Orpheus, who looked like someone who could shred a guitar effortlessly. "Why does all your classes sounds different from what Olympia offers?"

Atalanta chuckled. "I'm sure you know the answer to this, Percy." She said as she took a sip of her drink. "We all have access to the Cut Content of Olympia."

"Yeah," Orpheus added. "For example, I'm a Musician. A support class that can buff allies and cripple enemies."

"And I'm a Beast." Atalanta offered. Percy hoped that it wasn't what he thought she meant. "As the name suggest, I can use the attributes of an animal and use it as my own. Like the speed of a cheetah, or the strength of a gorilla."

"How would that even work?" Percy asked. "Can the Glasses even make you do things like that?"

"You'd be surprised," Orpheus said with a smirk. "And you haven't seen Hercules in action."

"Hercules?" Percy was getting tired of hearing weird names. "Who's that?"

"Arguably the best Olympia player to have ever walked this Earth." Atalanta said.

"I thought that title belongs to Jason."

Both of them shook their heads. "Jason's good at leading. But you're looking for sheer power, Hercules beats everyone." Atalanta said.

"What's his class?" Percy asked.

"Demigod." Orpheus said. "It's one of the most complicated classes to use, but Hercules can pull it off. It's also one of the most overpowered piece of shit I've ever seen in my life."

"Remind me not to get on his bad side then," Percy muttered.

 **Line Break**

Percy was back in his apartment, his mind was still in shambles after what just happened. He almost wished he'd never touched this stupid game in the first place.

Almost.

If he hadn't, he would've never met new friends. He would've missed the chance to get back with Artemis. He would've missed the chance to meet his father.

Percy put on his AR Glasses. He have some unread emails, but he put that aside first. He went to his personal files and opened up the Cut Content folder that his father had given him.

Inside the folder was a list of another three folders. They were labelled Class, Spells, and Items. Percy went through the Classes first, which had a total of ten new classes in addition to the ones Olympia already has. The classes in Cut Content seemed way too overpowered to be in Olympia, which is probably why they were in the Cut Content of Olympia.

One class caught Percy's attention:

* * *

Class: Weaver

Description: Capable of weaving the fabric of reality. Very good in controlling battles, buffing allies and damaging enemies. Excellent in team fights and one-on-one situation.( _USE WITH CAUTION_ )

* * *

How could a class from a game of Olympia change reality? That's bullshit.

Then again, Percy almost died from this game. The fact that it could change reality seems to be stretching it, but it really wasn't. At least if they're talking about the reality of the game, then it's totally plausible.

He continued to look through the classes. Arch Angel . . . Fundamental . . . Demigod . . . And that's not all of them. There were several other classes that Percy didn't go through.

Suddenly, his AR Glasses rang from Artemis calling him. He jumped in surprised. He sighed as he answered the call. "Hey there."

"Hey," Artemis said. "How've you been?"

"I've been better," Percy admitted.

"Sorry I don't get to meet you that much. I've got my hands full with –"

"I know, I know," Percy said with a chuckle. "Everyone's busy except for me."

"Well if you joined a team, you wouldn't have so much free time," Artemis said.

"I told you guys already. I haven't decided on a team to join yet."

"How about the Rebellion?"

"Nico's there."

"The Minerva?"

"Annabeth's there."

"What about Frank's team?"

"That Leo kid was annoying."

"The Roman Legion?"

"Reyna's there and Jason is almost there."

"How about my team?"

"Meh. All females."

Percy could imagine Artemis throwing her hands up in exasperation. "You don't like being teammates with us?"

Percy let out a genuine laugh. "It's not like that." Percy explained. "I just want a chance to go at you guys. I need to know how good I am exactly in Olympia, and so I need to face off against all of you."

Artemis was silent for a while. "You do know you're just gonna lose, right?"

Percy winced. "That sounds like a challenge, my dear Artemis."

"Yeah, it is. You can't beat all of us."

Percy grinned to himself. He liked challenges. "Ah, but you can't be sure of that."

"I can, and I am sure of it." Artemis said. "And just to make it official," Artemis invited all of their friends into their little voice call.

"Hello?" Annabeth said.

"Um, why did you call us?" Nico asked.

"Do you know what time it is?" Reyna huffed. "Jason! You've got twenty more laps to go!"

"I know!" Jason shouted as he panted. "What's up guys?"

"Dunno," Frank said. "Artemis called us. What's wrong?"

"Did you really have to do this?" Percy asked.

He could almost see Artemis's grin. "Percy has something to offer us." Artemis announced.

"We're listening." Thalia said.

"He said he could beat us." Artemis said. "All of us, in Olympia."

There was a moment of silence in the voice call after that before Leo broke the silence. "Okay, where's the punchline?"

"I think he's serious." Piper said. "Is he serious?"

"I think so," Hazel said.

"Percy, I mean," Annabeth said. "I know you're good, but you're not _that_ good."

There were a few _oohh_ 's coming from everyone. "I'm going to make you eat your words, Chase."

"Remember our first match?" Annabeth reminded him. "Where I make you eat the floor?"

"Oh shit," Jason said. "This just got personal."

"I've gotten better." Percy said. "Want to go at it?"

"Interesting." Annabeth said. "How about this? A month from now, there's a pre-season tournament for Olympia called Breaking Point. We're gonna have out rematch there."

"Count me in on it." Reyna said.

"Me too." Frank said.

"Don't forget me," Thalia said.

"Alright, alright." Percy said. "Give me time to build my own team to against all of you. Then, we're gonna have out match. Deal?"

"What do we get out of this?" Annabeth asked.

"If any of us win," Artemis said. "We can get him to do whatever we want without any complains."

"So basically a servant," Thalia said. "Awesome."

"Do I get a say in this?" Percy asked.

"No you don't." Artemis said gleefully.

"Okay then," Percy said. "If I win, all of you are going to make a public announcement that I'm the best Olympia player there is."

Annabeth laughed. "You got yourself a deal."

"That's fine with me." Reyna said. "You'd better get ready, Percy. We won't be an easy enemy." She said before ending her call.

"Well, time to practice I guess." Frank said. "Hazel, Leo, let's go." The three of them ended their calls.

The rest of them said basically the same thing and ended their calls, except for Artemis.

"Did you really have to make it into a big deal?" Percy asked.

Artemis laughed. "You asked for it." Artemis said. "Well, I look forward into facing you, oh mighty Perseus."

"And I can't wait to hand you your own rear end, oh graceful Artemis." Percy said mockingly.

Again, Artemis laughed. "Well, see you soon Percy."

"Yeah, you too." Percy said before ending the call.

 **Line Break**

Percy was on his way to Jason's (the Argonaut Jason) office to deliver his final verdict. When he stepped in, the room was just as impressive as ever. And Jason was again, engulfed in his AR Glasses.

Percy knocked on his desk twice, making him snap back into reality. Jason saw Percy and grinned.

"So, you're ready?"

"I'm in," Percy said. "But under one condition."

"What might that be?"

"A public team." Percy said. "Create a team that goes on as the face of this organization. A team that will be known to the public."

"Why would we do that?"

"To throw everyone off your scent." Percy said. "It's as a distraction to make sure no one picks up on what you're really doing."

"That was the Rebellion's plan." Jason said. "Look what happened to them."

"Yeah, but this time it will work."

"How would you know?"

"Because I'll be the captain." Percy said. "Everyone still has their eyes on me. It'll be impossible for them to focus on anything else. Plus, no one knows you exist. As far as they're concerned, you'd be rookies."

Jason had a thoughtful look on his face for a while. "Even if I do agree to your plan, it's impossible not to draw attention. Everyone in the Argonaut uses things from the Cut Content of Olympia. That's going to draw attention."

Percy grinned. "Leave that part to me."

 **Line Break**

A few days later, Percy's plan went without a hitch. He posted on social media that he was going into the professional scene of Olympia with some 'fresh faces'. Just like that, the media blew up. News website were talking about him and his 'new team'. Speculations started popping up that the other pro players were joining his team, like Luke, Nico, Artemis, and a few others.

Luckily for him, all of them let out a statement that they had nothing to do with Percy's new team. So at least the media heat was easing off of him.

"Nice work," Jason said as both of them sat on the beanbag chairs and played Mario Kart in the relax area. "With this much attention on you, no one would bother us."

"Just make sure you don't link me to any of your database." Percy said as he leaned along with the go-kart in the game. "These hackers might get a scent on me."

Jason snorted. "They could try. Daedalus is one of the best programmers I've ever seen. He's invented a system called the Labyrinth that makes it hard for hackers to get in into our system. Once, a hacker tried hacking in and the Labyrinth – oh fuck off!" Jason shouted as he was hit by a blue shell.

"I guess I have one less thing to worry about," Percy said. Jason gave a look that wondered whether he was talking about the Mario Kart game or the Labyrinth's impenetrable security.

"What's the next step?" Jason asked.

"You'll see." Percy said with a grin as he finished first. "Booyah!"

Jason groaned in frustration. "Can you at least tell me?"

"It's a surprise." Percy said with a wink. "Wait until midnight."

 **Line Break**

Midnight was just a few minutes away. Percy was in the bar of the Argonauts' HQ. Atalanta, Orpheus, Theseus and Jason were all waiting for Percy's next plan. They all had their Glasses on.

"It's almost midnight." Theseus said. "I'm not seeing anything."

"Just be patient." Percy said with a smirk. He knew what was going to happen.

The clock was ticking. Five seconds left to midnight.

Four . . .

Three . . .

Two . . .

One . . .

Midnight.

As soon as the clock struck midnight, everybody who plays Olympia received a notification. Percy made sure that everyone would receive that notification.

His friends read the notification.

"Holy shit . . ." Theseus said. "You really are crazy."

"Well, this'll work." Orpheus muttered.

The notification was:

* * *

 _Olympia Update 6.5.7:_

 _Hidden Classes are added._

 _Hidden Items are added._

 _How to access: From completing special requirements or obtain from raid drops with only 0.5% chance of dropping._

 _*Note: Classes or Items obtained illegally (e.g. hacking, tampering with the game's codes) will result in immediate permanent ban and possible arrest._

* * *

Within a span of an hour, as Percy expected the Olympia community exploded into chaos. Millions of players started their search for the hidden classes and items, which were all from the Cut Content of Olympia. Discussion forums were made just to find out how to obtain these hidden classes and items.

You'd thought with millions of players working together they would find them just like that. So far, no one has gotten close.

Then, Annabeth emailed Percy.

* * *

 _To: Percy_

 _From: Annabeth_

 _You did something didn't you?_

* * *

 _To: Annabeth_

 _From: Percy_

 _*wink_

* * *

Now, all Percy had to do was train and wait for the Breaking Point tournament a month from now.

Even then, something made him uncomfortable. It was like someone was breathing down cold breath down his neck, giving him the chills.

He decided to ignore it for the night and decided that it was a problem for another day.

Or was it?

 **A/N: Gotta end it there. So, this is the last chapter of this story. I'm going to make a sequel soon, but not before I do like a full on guide and walkthrough on what Olympia actually is. This is so that you guys aren't confused and I don't have to retcon myself in every chapter I post.**

 **So, see you guys in the next one!**


	18. Announcement

**A/N: Just in case anyone missed it, the sequel is up on my page.**


End file.
